Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,082 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 67.5% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at $27,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $222.18 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.86 and a 12-month high of $251.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $237.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $237.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.71 billion, a PE ratio of 52.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The company had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a share 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 buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.00.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.12, for a total transaction of $361,499.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,035,744.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 in the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.