WBI Investments LLC Buys New Shares in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

WBI Investments LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,498,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.40.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $309.57 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $293.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.24. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $245.01 and a 1 year high of $312.82. The company has a market capitalization of $43.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

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