Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stake Lowered by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,214 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,269 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRSK. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 506.5% in the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $50,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK traded down $2.43 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $244.57. 780,131 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 907,045. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $231.47 and its 200 day moving average is $236.09. The stock has a market cap of $34.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $209.02 and a 1-year high of $251.98.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm 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 posted $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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 reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 target price 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics 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.