Voloridge Investment Management LLC Sells 38,878 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 239,018 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 38,878 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned 0.17% of Verisk Analytics worth $65,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $0.57 on Monday, reaching $313.77. 547,896 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 768,135. The firm has a market cap of $43.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, 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 $315.11. 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's 50-day moving average is $295.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.47.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $750.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Verisk Analytics's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 26.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the business'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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. 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 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.