Unigestion Holding SA Sells 55,307 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Unigestion Holding SA cut its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 55.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,385 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 55,307 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $13,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $526,676,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 36,332.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,204,468 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $358,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,162 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,226,000 after acquiring an additional 430,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $110,094,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $108,646,000 after purchasing an additional 393,218 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $320.59. 725,072 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 760,691. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.01, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $257.59 and a one year high of $324.65. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $299.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.11.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $753.00 million during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.