Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Cuts Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 271,276 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,861 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.19% of Verisk Analytics worth $74,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 188.2% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,637 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,454,000 after acquiring an additional 16,742 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 479.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,853 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,516,000 after purchasing an additional 13,943 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,667 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,936,000 after purchasing an additional 8,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 63,217 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $16,940,000 after purchasing an additional 9,145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $0.99 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $298.61. 621,595 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 759,694. The company has a market cap of $41.89 billion, a PE ratio of 46.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.10. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $291.20 and a 200 day moving average of $281.66.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

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.