Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Holdings Lowered by Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 73,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 314 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics makes up 1.0% of Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $17,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the fourth 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. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 506.5% during the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. 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 research report on Monday, January 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,829,348.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock remained flat at $222.25 during trading hours on Wednesday. 1,008,746 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 875,711. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $31.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.79, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.86 and a 12 month high of $251.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $233.80 and a 200 day moving average of $236.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. Verisk Analytics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.