Squarepoint Ops LLC Increases Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 214.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,815 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $26,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total value of $1,755,314.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. This represents a 30.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $313.10 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $245.01 and a 1-year high of $314.65. 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 50-day moving average of $294.14 and a 200-day moving average of $288.69. The firm has a market cap of $43.80 billion, a PE ratio of 48.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.35%.

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.