Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 392,270 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,435,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 188.2% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,454,000 after purchasing an additional 16,742 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 479.1% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,516,000 after acquiring an additional 13,943 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 16.9% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 63,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,940,000 after acquiring an additional 9,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 61,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $294.58 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $290.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.46.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.33.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.