Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 94.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 5,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 408.1% in the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 9,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,356,000 after purchasing an additional 7,922 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 22,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,315,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 985,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $235,463,000 after buying an additional 80,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,503,000 after buying an additional 4,872 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $376,057.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were 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 owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $376,057.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $13,066,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,304 shares of company stock worth $2,648,390. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 target price 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $1.60 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $249.44. 66,380 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 877,576. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $232.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.81. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $214.67 and a 52-week high of $251.98. The company has a market cap of $35.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

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.