Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 117.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,870 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $12,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 506.5% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Bank of America cut Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at $2,829,348.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $222.25 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.72 billion, a PE ratio of 52.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $234.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $236.93. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.86 and a 12 month high of $251.98.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.