Swedbank AB Reduces Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Swedbank AB lowered its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 106,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,528 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $29,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $288.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.94, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $296.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $275.11.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.11.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,570. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.