EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Sells 1,213 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lessened its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,184 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,213 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,152 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 16.6% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 47,233 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,657,000 after buying an additional 6,736 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 17.0% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 27,769 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,441,000 after acquiring an additional 4,036 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth approximately $834,000. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $377,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $2.31 on Friday, hitting $294.58. The company had a trading volume of 728,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 758,235. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $290.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $281.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $306.10.

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.