Cerity Partners LLC Buys 3,082 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,082 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock opened at $222.18 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $237.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.56. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.86 and a 12-month high of $251.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.77, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The company had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total value of $375,619.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at $12,514,344. The sale 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 dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was 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 owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Verisk Analytics

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.