1,076 Shares in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Purchased by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

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

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $11,528,824.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on VRSK. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $244.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.95 billion, a PE ratio of 45.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.79. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.90 and a twelve month high of $251.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 268.19%. The company had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

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.