Two Sigma Advisers LP Lowers Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Two Sigma Advisers LP reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 563,131 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 51,700 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.40% of Verisk Analytics worth $155,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 61,889 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $17,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 105,331 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,011,000 after purchasing an additional 42,883 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 41,155 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $314.09. 393,290 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 768,302. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $245.01 and a fifty-two week high of $315.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The business's fifty day moving average price is $295.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.10. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $750.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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 paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. 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 research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.

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.