Stifel Financial Corp Increases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 83,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $22,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRSK. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $288.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $291.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $284.58. The company has a market cap of $40.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.97, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $306.68.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management 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.