Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,364 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,491 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.06% of Verisk Analytics worth $25,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics
In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total transaction of $1,755,314.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,980,456.16. This represents a 30.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.10, for a total value of $1,723,783.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,701 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,036,588.10. This trade represents a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,603 shares of company stock worth $3,904,741 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.2%
Verisk Analytics stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $311.00. The stock had a trading volume of 138,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 757,616. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $301.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $292.16. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.59 and a 12 month high of $322.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company has a market capitalization of $43.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.52, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.87.
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Verisk Analytics's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Verisk Analytics
About Verisk Analytics
(
Free Report)
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.
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