Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV decreased its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 34.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 216 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 114 shares during the quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $59,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 148,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,845,000 after purchasing an additional 13,810 shares in the last quarter. Postrock Partners LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $2,949,000. Aviso Financial Inc. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 15,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 39,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,831,000 after acquiring an additional 4,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 38,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,747,000 after acquiring an additional 7,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $287.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.88, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.10. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $733.55 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was 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 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 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.33.

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.