Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Has $12.96 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Key Points

• Middleton & Co. Inc. MA reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 9.2% in the first quarter, now owning 43,539 shares valued at approximately $12.96 million, making it their 24th largest position.
• In the fourth quarter, significant institutional activity included purchases by Resona Asset Management (new position worth $11.65 million) and increases by Aviva PLC (up 24.1%) and Russell Investments Group (up 9.9%).
• Verisk Analytics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, which will be paid on September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA decreased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,539 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,425 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics comprises approximately 1.5% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $12,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSK. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $11,652,000. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 85,788 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 16,635 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 80,568 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $22,193,000 after purchasing an additional 7,283 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $294,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,691,016 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,292,047,000 after purchasing an additional 72,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 12,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,980,456.16. This represents a 30.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total value of $3,649,027.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 67,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,051,406.64. The trade was a 14.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,825 shares of company stock worth $8,947,730. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.2%

VRSK stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $264.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,038,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,117,912. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.17 and a 1-year high of $322.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $302.44 and a 200 day moving average of $297.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.76, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.83.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%. The company had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $305.60.

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.