HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 1,011 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,781 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,011 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of Verisk Analytics worth $39,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of VRSK traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $288.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 740,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 728,526. The stock has a market cap of $40.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $306.10. The company's fifty day moving average price is $287.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.13.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $299.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 owned by company insiders.

About Verisk Analytics

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.