Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases 189 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $394,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock opened at $287.76 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $289.76 and a 200-day moving average of $281.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a PE ratio of 44.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

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.