Two Sigma Investments LP Sells 97,028 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Two Sigma Investments LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 407,877 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 97,028 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP owned approximately 0.29% of Verisk Analytics worth $112,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in 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 worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Bell Bank lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America assumed 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. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $313.77. The company had a trading volume of 547,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 767,821. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $295.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $43.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, a PEG 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 $315.11.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a share 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 reacquire 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. This trade represents a 30.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.