Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Purchased by Sycomore Asset Management

Sycomore Asset Management boosted its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,940 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 506.5% during the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth $50,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, 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 owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK remained flat at $222.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. 1,008,746 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 875,711. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $233.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $236.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.86 and a twelve month high of $251.98. The company has a market cap of $31.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The company had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.