Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Position Raised by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,270,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,544 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $350,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $526,676,000. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,226,000 after buying an additional 430,719 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,646,000 after acquiring an additional 393,218 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,435,012,000 after acquiring an additional 392,270 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $297.62 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.10. The company has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.43, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.87%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

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.