Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Has $5.17 Million Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lowered its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 46.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,471 shares during the period. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $5,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 16,742 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 479.1% during the third 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 period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 14.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,936,000 after purchasing an additional 8,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 16.9% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 63,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,940,000 after purchasing an additional 9,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK opened at $285.40 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a market cap of $40.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.10.

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

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.