Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Position Boosted by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 522,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,008 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 0.36% of Verisk Analytics worth $124,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total value of $375,619.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total value of $375,619.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $222.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $237.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.56. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.86 and a 52 week high of $251.98.

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. 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. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 37.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America cut Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.00.

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.