Lindbrook Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $91,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 506.5% in the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK opened at $222.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $31.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.86 and a 52 week high of $251.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $233.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.56 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total value of $375,619.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $53,937.47. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set 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 decreased their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.00.

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.