Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 73 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRSK. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 3,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Cavalier Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC now owns 13,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,605,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the period. FFT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 39,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 35,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,687,000 after acquiring an additional 7,862 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $296.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $41.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $300.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.27.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.