SVB Wealth LLC Purchases 414 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

SVB Wealth LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 414 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 248.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,765,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $664,346,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684,234 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 1,404.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,992,727 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $470,762,000 after buying an additional 1,860,298 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $268,659,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,523,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,777,279,000 after acquiring an additional 392,945 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,205,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $212,612,000 after acquiring an additional 346,785 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America cut Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $223.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.05, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.86 and a 52-week high of $251.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $235.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.26.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.