Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC Makes New $1.68 Million Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 7,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,683,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 506.5% in the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $221.14. The stock had a trading volume of 815,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,721. The firm has a market cap of $31.57 billion, a PE ratio of 52.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.57. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.86 and a twelve month high of $251.98.

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan 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 purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at $2,829,348.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.