Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Position Decreased by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. lowered its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 40.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,884 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,253 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 8.8% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,183 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at $423,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 233.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,666 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth $864,000. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 57.9% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $276.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 340,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 773,705. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.63. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $306.68. The stock has a market cap of $38.73 billion, a PE ratio of 43.03, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88.

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Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value 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 sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,628,433 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $299.33.

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.