Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 498,431 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 56,802 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Verisk Analytics worth $137,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 233.9% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,666 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 90.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,886 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,105 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 7,190 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 136,700 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,630,000 after purchasing an additional 49,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRSK. Barclays lowered 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.40.
View Our Latest Report on Verisk Analytics
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total transaction of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,628,433 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Verisk Analytics Trading Up 2.1 %
NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $6.10 on Friday, hitting $291.88. 835,049 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 780,372. The stock has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a PE ratio of 45.54, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.68. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $292.30 and a 200-day moving average of $283.30.
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.
Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Verisk Analytics Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Verisk Analytics, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Verisk Analytics wasn't on the list.
While Verisk Analytics currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Nuclear energy stocks are roaring. It's the hottest energy sector of the year. Cameco Corp, Paladin Energy, and BWX Technologies were all up more than 40% in 2024. The biggest market moves could still be ahead of us, and there are seven nuclear energy stocks that could rise much higher in the next several months. To unlock these tickers, enter your email address below.
Get This Free Report
