Northern Trust Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,639,719 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 197,413 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.16% of Verisk Analytics worth $451,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Bell Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $294.49. The company had a trading volume of 167,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 759,257. The company has a market capitalization of $41.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $291.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $237.09 and a 12-month high of $306.68.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.40.

Verisk Analytics Profile

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics and technology solutions to the insurance markets in the United States and internationally. It offers policy language, prospective loss costs, policy writing and rating rules, and various underwriting solutions for risk selection and segmentation, pricing, and workflow optimization; property- and auto- specific rating and underwriting information solutions that allows clients to understand, quantify, underwrite, mitigate, and avoid potential loss for risks; catastrophe modeling solutions, which enables companies to identify, quantify, and plan for the financial consequences of catastrophes for use by insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, financial institutions, and governments.