Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Has $138.42 Million Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 502,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,244 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $138,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 16,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77 % 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,837 shares of company stock worth $1,121,618 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $293.02 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $292.29 and its 200-day moving average is $283.99. The firm has a market cap of $41.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year 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.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America started 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.40.

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.