Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 944,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,167 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $260,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total transaction of $347,746.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $288.03 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap 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 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $300.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $283.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $277.94.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Finally, Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.33.

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.