Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,862 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $9,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 17.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 26,695.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 31,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,329,000 after purchasing an additional 30,967 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,583,000 after purchasing an additional 2,671 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 110.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $288.03 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $40.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.93, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $300.50. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $283.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $277.94.

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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $313.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’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 value of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.