Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Holdings Lifted by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,343 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,153 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $8,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $2.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $286.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,016,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 773,741. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.68. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $291.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $284.84. The firm has a market cap of $40.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88.

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

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.