Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) is XXEC Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

XXEC Inc. lessened its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 814 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics comprises approximately 5.0% of XXEC Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. XXEC Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crew Capital Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 246.8% in the 4th quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 822,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $226,581,000 after acquiring an additional 21,494 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $299.54 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.30 billion, a PE ratio of 46.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $285.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.90.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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.