Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 670 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.4% during the third quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 0.8% in the third quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 6,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 over the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK remained flat at $222.25 on Wednesday. 938,745 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 875,406. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $234.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.93. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $187.86 and a one year high of $251.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.56 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America lowered Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $252.00.

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.