Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 69.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,538 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,300 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6,050.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 123 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 966.7% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.10, for a total transaction of $1,723,783.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 56,701 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,036,588.10. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total value of $1,755,314.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,980,456.16. This trade represents a 30.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,259 shares of company stock valued at $7,553,769. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $2.84 during trading on Monday, reaching $311.50. 1,045,839 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 771,282. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $219.10 and a 12 month high of $322.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $306.40 and a 200-day moving average of $293.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 396.08% and a net margin of 33.13%. The business's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

About Verisk Analytics

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.