Marshall Financial Group LLC Acquires 140 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,079 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $313.91 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $257.59 and a one year high of $322.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $43.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.97, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $302.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.31.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.10, for a total transaction of $1,723,783.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,036,588.10. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,603 shares of company stock valued at $3,904,741. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.40.

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.