Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Trims Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC cut its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,220 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,036 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $334,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 974 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $4,066,180.70. The trade was a 7.88 % 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 worth $1,628,433 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRSK shares. 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 research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Finally, Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $297.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ VRSK traded up $6.10 on Friday, hitting $291.88. 835,049 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 781,406. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $292.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $283.17. 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 company has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a PE ratio of 45.54, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.