Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Holdings Lifted by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 79.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 187,566 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 83,030 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Verisk Analytics worth $51,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,435,012,000 after buying an additional 392,270 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,691,016 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,292,047,000 after acquiring an additional 72,045 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,811,563 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,051,300,000 after acquiring an additional 19,423 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $526,676,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,654,826 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $455,789,000 after purchasing an additional 144,599 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $295.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 344,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,261. 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 price of $291.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.12. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $222.61 and a fifty-two week high of $306.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.08, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned 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 price target of $297.40.

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.