Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $4.79 Million Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $4,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following 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 three months, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $222.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.86 and a twelve month high of $251.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $235.22 and a 200-day moving average of $237.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.05%.

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.