Fifth Third Bancorp Trims Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,150 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 938 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 168.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,057 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,668,000 after purchasing an additional 3,799 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,679 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 217.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 22,126 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,049,000 after purchasing an additional 15,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 95,570 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,502,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of VRSK stock traded down $3.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $310.41. 544,037 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 761,141. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $303.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $292.41. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.59 and a 12-month high of $322.92. The stock has a market cap of $43.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.43, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. UBS Group raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.40.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total transaction of $3,649,027.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,051,406.64. This trade represents a 14.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,259 shares of company stock worth $7,553,769 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.