Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 33.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 145,894 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 71,929 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.10% of Verisk Analytics worth $40,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,435,012,000 after purchasing an additional 392,270 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,811,563 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,051,300,000 after purchasing an additional 19,423 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $526,676,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,270,745 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $350,001,000 after buying an additional 39,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,226,000 after buying an additional 430,719 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock traded up $6.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $291.88. The stock had a trading volume of 835,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 780,372. The stock's 50 day moving average is $292.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.30. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $306.68. The stock has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. 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 (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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. As a group, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,628,433. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.40.

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.