Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 3,171 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,611 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,171 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $15,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRSK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $526,676,000. Amundi grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,226,000 after purchasing an additional 430,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $108,646,000 after acquiring an additional 393,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,435,012,000 after buying an additional 392,270 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $1.64 on Thursday, hitting $314.32. The company had a trading volume of 773,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 767,210. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $297.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.04. The stock has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $245.01 and a 1-year high of $322.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. The business 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%. Verisk Analytics's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend 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 buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 directly owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.