Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Trims Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 248 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 506.5% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $241.86 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $209.02 and a 52-week high of $251.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $231.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.00. The firm has a market cap of $34.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.79.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The company had revenue of $704.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America cut Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.