Focus Partners Wealth Purchases 18,627 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 132.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,652 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,627 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $8,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.7%

VRSK traded up $2.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $309.57. 749,819 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 769,841. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $293.14 and a 200 day moving average of $288.06. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $245.01 and a 12-month high of $312.82.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 26.35%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total transaction of $1,755,314.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. The trade was a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.