Cibc World Markets Corp Purchases 2,991 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Cibc World Markets Corp raised its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $26,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 148,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,845,000 after buying an additional 13,810 shares during the last quarter. Postrock Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,949,000. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 15,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,188,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 39,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,831,000 after buying an additional 4,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 38,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,747,000 after buying an additional 7,768 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. 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. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $288.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a market cap of $40.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.27. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. On average, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% 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.