Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,599 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,990 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Verisk Analytics worth $23,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $87,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $1,702,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at about $68,908,000. BNP Paribas boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 1,306 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 240,482 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $66,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,707 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK traded up $1.65 on Friday, hitting $309.50. 707,168 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 764,149. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $244.99 and a 12-month high of $312.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $292.09 and a 200-day moving average of $286.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.31 billion, a PE ratio of 48.28, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Verisk Analytics's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. 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. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $298.90.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total transaction of $1,755,314.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,456.16. This represents a 30.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics 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.