Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Holdings Decreased by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 31.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 183,977 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 82,483 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Verisk Analytics worth $50,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $297.40.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded down $0.61 on Friday, hitting $293.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 849,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 761,592. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $291.45 and a 200-day moving average of $285.56. The company has a market capitalization of $41.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $237.09 and a 12-month high of $306.68. 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders have sold 3,837 shares of company stock worth $1,121,618 over the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.