Millennium Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Millennium Management LLC decreased its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 59.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,276 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 163,860 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Verisk Analytics worth $30,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 61,889 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $17,046,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 68.7% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 42,883 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 41,155 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,335,000 after buying an additional 2,089 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $1,755,314.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. The trade was a 30.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on VRSK. 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 objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $0.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $313.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 547,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,135. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $295.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.41. The company has a market capitalization of $43.89 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $245.01 and a 52 week high of $315.11.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. Verisk Analytics's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 26.35%.

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.