Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Holdings Lifted by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,219,674 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 233,011 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.86% of Verisk Analytics worth $335,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $312.33 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $245.01 and a 1-year high of $314.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.85. The company has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a PE ratio of 48.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,456.16. This represents a 30.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.40.

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.