Mediolanum International Funds Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 34.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,708 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 13,358 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.
Verisk Analytics Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $287.44 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $296.58. The business's 50-day moving average price is $281.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $275.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $40.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.88.
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have issued reports on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $293.11.
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About Verisk Analytics
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Free Report)
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.
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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VRSK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report).
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