Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV Purchases 1,672 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,428 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,672 shares during the quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $8,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $212,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 61,889 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,046,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 105,331 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,011,000 after buying an additional 42,883 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 41,155 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,335,000 after buying an additional 2,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $2,957,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price 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 increased 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 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 assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $4.78 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $314.35. The company had a trading volume of 740,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,689. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $293.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.24. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $245.01 and a 12 month high of $314.66. The firm has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.04, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $750.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

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

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,980,456.16. This trade represents a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187. Company 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.