Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Position Decreased by FORA Capital LLC

FORA Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 93.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 783 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,852 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $0.30 on Wednesday, hitting $301.27. 835,398 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 768,453. The stock has a market cap of $42.14 billion, a PE ratio of 47.00, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $292.55 and a 200-day moving average of $287.34. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $245.01 and a fifty-two week high of $312.82.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm'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 value of $337,028.94. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. This represents a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.