National Bank of Canada FI Has $38.98 Million Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 104.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 163,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,732 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $38,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 506.5% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded up $3.63 during trading on Monday, reaching $240.96. The stock had a trading volume of 416,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 900,770. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $209.02 and a 52 week high of $251.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $231.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.95. The company has a market capitalization of $34.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.79.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.07 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 29.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at $2,829,348.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics 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.