EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. Has $8.53 Million Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. trimmed its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 28.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,703 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 13,972 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics accounts for approximately 1.8% of EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $8,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America cut shares of Verisk Analytics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $222.52. 714,317 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 927,408. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $235.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.86 and a fifty-two week high of $251.98. The firm has a market cap of $31.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.86, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The business had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.56 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.05%.

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.