USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 3,269 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 809,029 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,269 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics comprises 1.6% of USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. USS Investment Management Ltd owned 0.57% of Verisk Analytics worth $222,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 now owns 12,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. This trade represents a 30.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $314.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm's 50-day moving average is $293.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.51. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $245.01 and a 12 month high of $314.65. The company has a market capitalization of $43.97 billion, a PE ratio of 49.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.

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