Grandfield & Dodd LLC Reduces Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC lessened its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 146,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,439 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics makes up 2.4% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Grandfield & Dodd LLC owned about 0.10% of Verisk Analytics worth $34,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 60,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,458 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $261,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 346,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $82,800,000 after purchasing an additional 34,077 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $222.52. 714,317 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 927,408. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $31.76 billion, a PE ratio of 52.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $235.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.16. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.86 and a fifty-two week high of $251.98.

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

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the sale, 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 have sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952 in the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America downgraded Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

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.