CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,337 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $299.71 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $306.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $291.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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 note on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

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.