Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Has $86,000 Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 64.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 359 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $86,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America downgraded Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 directly owns 12,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at $11,528,824.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $222.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.86 and a 52 week high of $251.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.86, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $235.22 and its 200 day moving average is $237.16.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics 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.