Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Has $35.55 Million Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 30.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,058 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 55,748 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Verisk Analytics worth $35,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Bell Bank lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Haverford Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock traded down $0.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $313.77. 547,896 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 768,135. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $245.01 and a twelve month high of $315.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company has a market capitalization of $43.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.47.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on VRSK. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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 report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, 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 90 days, insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.