Metis Global Partners LLC Has $1.51 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Metis Global Partners LLC decreased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 388 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 506.5% in the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total value of $375,619.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $247.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.79. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $209.02 and a twelve month high of $251.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $231.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.10%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.