Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stake Lessened by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,472,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 285,099 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,231,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. OV Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. OV Management LLC now owns 6,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,876,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,811,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,051,300,000 after buying an additional 19,423 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,270,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,001,000 after acquiring an additional 39,544 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $298.61 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $291.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.59, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued 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. 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%. Analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 over the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

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.