Sei Investments Co. Boosts Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 233,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,177 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $64,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,226,000 after buying an additional 430,719 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,646,000 after purchasing an additional 393,218 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,237,700,000 after purchasing an additional 283,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 29,469.0% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 233,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $64,176,000 after purchasing an additional 232,216 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $285.16 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $289.28 and its 200 day moving average is $280.81. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $40.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.49, 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 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 the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. 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%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.