Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Bought by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 30.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,646,000 after purchasing an additional 393,218 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after purchasing an additional 283,653 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,144,000 after purchasing an additional 261,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 29,469.0% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 233,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $64,176,000 after purchasing an additional 232,216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $300.48 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $286.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.10.

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

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.