Jensen Investment Management Inc. Sells 202,021 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Jensen Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 496,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 202,021 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics accounts for approximately 1.2% of Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $136,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 148,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,845,000 after purchasing an additional 13,810 shares during the last quarter. Postrock Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $2,949,000. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 15,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares during the period. LBP AM SA increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 39,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,831,000 after acquiring an additional 4,327 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 38,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,747,000 after acquiring an additional 7,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $288.58 on Monday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $287.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.02, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

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

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,071,832.96. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.