Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Purchased by Rehmann Capital Advisory Group

Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK opened at $293.90 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $291.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.46. The firm has a market cap of $41.13 billion, a PE ratio of 45.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $233.78 and a fifty-two week high of $306.68.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication 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.