Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Decreases Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,352 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,774 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $526,676,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 36,332.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,204,468 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $358,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201,162 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,226,000 after purchasing an additional 430,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,094,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,435,012,000 after buying an additional 392,270 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $3.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $304.83. The stock had a trading volume of 241,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 774,983. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.59 and a twelve month high of $322.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.63, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's 50 day moving average is $308.64 and its 200 day moving average is $294.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 396.08% and a net margin of 33.13%. The business had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.31 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on 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 research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total value of $1,755,314.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,980,456.16. This trade represents a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,825 shares of company stock worth $8,945,180. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.