Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. decreased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 726 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $11,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 22,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,906,000 after buying an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $636,000. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 0.6% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 195,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 14.4% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 9,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on VRSK. Bank of America cut Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $223.53. 64,821 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 865,285. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $235.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.91 billion, a PE ratio of 53.05, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.86 and a 1-year high of $251.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.56 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics 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.