Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Purchases 81,604 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 782,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,604 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.55% of Verisk Analytics worth $231,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Andra AP fonden boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 34,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,447,000 after buying an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 18,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 15,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $1,215,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.7 %

VRSK stock opened at $300.48 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $306.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.36. 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 company has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.88, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

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

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on 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 raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.