EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. Sells 1,479 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. trimmed its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,802 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,479 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics makes up about 1.8% of EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $9,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,025 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 974 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $5.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $300.48. 754,056 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 723,671. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $306.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $286.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $279.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a market cap of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.88, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. Equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. This is a boost 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 the business'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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSK. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $299.33.

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.