Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Position Trimmed by Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lowered its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 46.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,763 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 16,471 shares during the quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $5,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

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Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $2.31 on Friday, reaching $294.58. The stock had a trading volume of 728,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 758,235. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $41.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The business's 50-day moving average price is $290.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.39. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding 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 often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of 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 reduced their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics 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.