Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 3,269 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 45.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,921 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,269 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew 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 valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake 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 worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,837 shares of company stock worth $1,121,618 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $297.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $294.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 157,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 857,312. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $237.09 and a one year high of $306.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $41.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The business's fifty day moving average price is $291.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $285.69.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. As a group, 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 initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 26.87%.

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.