Truist Financial Corp Lowers Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 176,491 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,689 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.12% of Verisk Analytics worth $42,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,683,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 542,737 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $129,638,000 after purchasing an additional 17,775 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 15,976 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,316 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $340,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $221.85. The stock had a trading volume of 911,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,998. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.86 and a 52 week high of $251.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day moving average is $232.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.28. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America cut Verisk Analytics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $252.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

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.