Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 3,355 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,611 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,355 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $16,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $1.67 on Wednesday, reaching $311.43. The company had a trading volume of 158,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 767,010. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.56 billion, a PE ratio of 48.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $245.01 and a 12 month high of $314.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $294.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.69.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million for 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 business's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's 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 approximately $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.