IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Has $918,000 Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd decreased its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 61.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,241 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $296.89 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $290.49 and a 200 day moving average of $281.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a market cap of $41.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.

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.