Stifel Financial Corp Boosts Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned 0.06% of Verisk Analytics worth $22,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,837 shares of company stock worth $1,121,618 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $288.24 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $291.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $284.58. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $306.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a market cap of $40.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.97, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign 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.