Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Bought by Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $8,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $307.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $292.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.75. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $245.01 and a 52 week high of $312.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $42.99 billion, a PE ratio of 47.95, 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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 26.35%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.40.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total transaction of $1,755,314.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. The trade was a 30.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.