Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Has $5.96 Million Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lessened its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,639 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 961 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $5,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total transaction of $347,746.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77 % 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 valued at $1,121,618 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $293.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 849,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 763,056. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $233.78 and a 52 week high of $306.68. 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 firm has a market cap of $41.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $291.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.46.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $297.40.

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.