Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by abrdn plc

abrdn plc increased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 55.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,458 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $14,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $261,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 346,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $82,800,000 after purchasing an additional 34,077 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 359 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $222.25 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.86 and a 12-month high of $251.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $233.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $677.20 million for 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%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.05%.

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

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the company’s 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.