Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Insider Nicholas Daffan Sells 1,554 Shares

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at $11,528,824.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Nicholas Daffan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 12th, Nicholas Daffan sold 1,531 shares of Verisk Analytics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.12, for a total transaction of $361,499.72.
• On Monday, February 12th, Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of Verisk Analytics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total value of $375,619.75.
• On Tuesday, January 16th, Nicholas Daffan sold 25 shares of Verisk Analytics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.48, for a total transaction of $5,887.00.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.0 %

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $222.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $31.70 billion, a PE ratio of 52.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $236.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.46. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.86 and a 1-year high of $251.98.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.56 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.05%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.