NorthRock Partners LLC Invests $583,000 in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,117 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $583,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America started 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $0.21 on Wednesday, reaching $312.89. 124,497 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 766,858. The company has a 50-day moving average of $294.14 and a 200 day moving average of $288.69. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $245.01 and a one year high of $314.65. The company has a market capitalization of $43.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.81, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Verisk Analytics

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.