Ieq Capital LLC Sells 5,189 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Ieq Capital LLC reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 80.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,258 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,189 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 17.5% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 26,695.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 31,083 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,329,000 after purchasing an additional 30,967 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 18.5% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,583,000 after buying an additional 2,671 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 110.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,807 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,273 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,413,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRSK. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $299.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, 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 through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK traded up $4.40 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $301.31. The company had a trading volume of 801,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 737,948. The business has a fifty day moving average of $284.30 and a 200-day moving average of $278.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a market cap of $42.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.01, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $302.25.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released 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 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Verisk Analytics

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.