Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Takes Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 663 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $183,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth 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 period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $285.16 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $289.28 and a 200-day moving average of $280.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.49, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 26.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

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.