Callahan Advisors LLC Buys 1,458 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $4,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 188.2% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,454,000 after acquiring an additional 16,742 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 899.1% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 10,726 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 479.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,516,000 after acquiring an additional 13,943 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 15.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 35,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,622,000 after acquiring an additional 4,767 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $293.48 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $281.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $276.50. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $296.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This 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 link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.