Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. decreased its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 71.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,228 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,099 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.
Verisk Analytics Stock Up 2.1 %
Shares of VRSK stock traded up $6.10 on Friday, reaching $291.88. 835,049 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 780,372. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $292.30 and a 200-day moving average of $283.30. The company has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.54, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.68.
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.
Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost 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 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.
Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Analyst Ratings Changes
VRSK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on 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 set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped 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 note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $297.40.
Check Out Our Latest Report on VRSK
Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics
In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,628,433 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.
About Verisk Analytics
(
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.
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