Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 1,581 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $26,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 34.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.2% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 22,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,906,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at approximately $636,000. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.6% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 195,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.4% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 9,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $222.25 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $187.86 and a one year high of $251.98. The company has a market cap of $31.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $236.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released 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). 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%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America downgraded 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 report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

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.