Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 259.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 72,331 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.07% of Verisk Analytics worth $27,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $287.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $288.95 and its 200 day moving average is $280.63. The stock has a market cap of $40.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $306.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.