O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $35.63 Million Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 42.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 94,847 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Verisk Analytics worth $35,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.7% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 974 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $294.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $41.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $306.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $290.81 and its 200 day moving average is $281.39. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

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.