Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 770,310 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,548 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $183,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.4% in the third quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 6,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note 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 company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, 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 value of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $244.98 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.90 and a 1-year high of $251.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $34.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $231.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.15.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 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 business had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.