Martin Investment Management LLC Has $7.67 Million Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Martin Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,847 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,885 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics comprises about 2.1% of Martin Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Martin Investment Management LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.7% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 974 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Bell Bank increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $7.46 on Monday, hitting $277.53. The stock had a trading volume of 571,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 767,335. 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 market cap of $38.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.68. The company's 50 day moving average price is $292.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.49.

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 company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics 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.