Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 87 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 535 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after acquiring an additional 283,653 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $331,476,000 after purchasing an additional 78,376 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $214,676,000 after purchasing an additional 8,262 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 46.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $164,750,000 after buying an additional 195,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 332,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $91,622,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $288.03 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.93, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $300.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $283.61 and its 200 day moving average is $277.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $313.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was 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 owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.