Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 314 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics makes up approximately 1.0% of Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of Verisk Analytics worth $17,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,523,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,777,279,000 after purchasing an additional 392,945 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,929,841 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,164,626,000 after purchasing an additional 182,631 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,661,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $392,526,000 after purchasing an additional 89,920 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,195,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,418,000 after purchasing an additional 211,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,048,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $247,793,000 after purchasing an additional 60,228 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock remained flat at $222.25 on Wednesday. 1,008,746 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 875,711. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.86 and a 12-month high of $251.98. The stock has a market cap of $31.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $233.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85.

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics 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.