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

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (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 quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 3.69% of Verisk Analytics worth $1,435,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 953,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $262,692,000 after purchasing an additional 34,826 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $11,964,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,159,000. Maridea Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $299,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,407 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $663,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $294.58 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.96, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $290.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.46. 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 data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

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.