Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $3.69 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 44.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,149 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 188.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,454,000 after purchasing an additional 16,742 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $212,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 479.1% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,516,000 after purchasing an additional 13,943 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,936,000 after purchasing an additional 8,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 63,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,940,000 after purchasing an additional 9,145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 transaction of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $285.16 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $289.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.81. The company has a market cap of $40.00 billion, a PE ratio of 44.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.