Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $35,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRSK. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America cut Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the firm’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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total value of $375,619.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,771 shares of company stock valued at $2,307,406 over the last quarter. 1.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $222.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.86, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $237.70. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.86 and a 52-week high of $251.98.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.