Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics comprises about 1.5% of Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 506.5% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VRSK shares. Bank of America cut 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 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at $11,528,824.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the transaction, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock traded down $3.89 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $217.96. 1,438,702 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 884,888. The company has a market cap of $31.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.77, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $231.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.07. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.86 and a 12-month high of $251.98.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.