Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 453,500 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 12,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.31% of Verisk Analytics worth $108,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LGT Group Foundation lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 31,710 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,535,000 after acquiring an additional 2,378 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,122 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $985,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 4,571 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 300,857 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $71,863,000 after acquiring an additional 47,335 shares during the period. Finally, Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,873 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,791,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,829,348.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America downgraded shares of 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, Evercore ISI reissued 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $3.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $237.33. 1,127,556 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,025,848. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $205.70 and a one year high of $251.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $231.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.95. The company has a market cap of $33.86 billion, a PE ratio of 44.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The business had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $699.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

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.