VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 53.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $27,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics 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 value of $375,619.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price target 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK traded up $3.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $248.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 697,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,031,948. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.33. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.90 and a 1-year high of $251.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick 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 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 repurchase program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

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.