Swedbank AB Lowers Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Swedbank AB decreased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,889 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,528 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.08% of Verisk Analytics worth $29,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,237,700,000 after buying an additional 283,653 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $73,144,000 after acquiring an additional 261,961 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 46.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $164,750,000 after purchasing an additional 195,700 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 158.2% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 184,806 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $49,521,000 after purchasing an additional 113,230 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $331,476,000 after purchasing an additional 78,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was 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 represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of VRSK stock traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $287.44. 651,372 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 736,924. The business's fifty day moving average is $281.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $296.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $293.11.

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.