Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 4,050 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 42.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,050 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 210,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,287,000 after acquiring an additional 34,455 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 31,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,388,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Callahan Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 15,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,165,000 after buying an additional 2,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $296.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $306.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $285.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.03.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. Equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.