Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Boosts Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 100,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,638 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $27,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Haverford Trust Co raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 108,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,775,000 after buying an additional 15,233 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,676,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $1,422,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $292.03 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.10. The stock has a market cap of $40.96 billion, a PE ratio of 45.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $290.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million during 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, analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

About Verisk Analytics

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.