ING Groep NV Buys 17,395 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

ING Groep NV lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 35.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,395 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $18,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK opened at $292.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.66, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $296.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $282.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $276.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.11.

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.