Avanza Fonder AB Makes New Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,735 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,957,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after acquiring an additional 283,653 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $436,204,000 after acquiring an additional 111,364 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $331,476,000 after acquiring an additional 78,376 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,676,000 after acquiring an additional 8,262 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $164,750,000 after acquiring an additional 195,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at $15,517,157.87. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,379 shares of company stock worth $946,141. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $278.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.46, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $296.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $282.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.11.

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.