Squarepoint Ops LLC Purchases 64,815 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 214.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 95,024 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 64,815 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.07% of Verisk Analytics worth $26,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $313.10 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $294.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $245.01 and a 12 month high of $314.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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