Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 453,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.31% of Verisk Analytics worth $108,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 346,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $82,800,000 after acquiring an additional 34,077 shares in the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 421.9% in the 4th quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,011,000 after purchasing an additional 60,957 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 522,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $124,777,000 after purchasing an additional 28,008 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 36.2% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 55.2% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 60,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,409,000 after buying an additional 21,458 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRSK. Bank of America lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $237.33 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.70 and a 1 year high of $251.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.28, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.79.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released 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 net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 268.19%. The company had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.10%.

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.