Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 617,954 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 66,286 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics accounts for approximately 1.5% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.43% of Verisk Analytics worth $147,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 248.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,765,708 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $664,346,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684,234 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1,404.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,992,727 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $470,762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860,298 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $268,659,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,523,191 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,777,279,000 after purchasing an additional 392,945 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 40.4% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,205,157 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $212,612,000 after purchasing an additional 346,785 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRSK. Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America cut Verisk Analytics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (up from $252.00) on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $252.00.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.64, for a total value of $355,109.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,513,370.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,278 shares of company stock valued at $2,662,515. 1.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $227.65. 579,887 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 918,998. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $239.86 and a 200-day moving average of $238.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $186.96 and a one year high of $251.98. The firm has a market cap of $32.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.07, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is presently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.