Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Sells 1,036 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,036 shares during the quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,162,000 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. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 26,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,264,000 after acquiring an additional 7,050 shares in the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $490,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $284.99 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.68. The stock has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a PE ratio of 44.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $292.64 and a 200-day moving average of $282.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given 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 was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were 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 owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of 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 cut their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

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.