Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Norris Perne & French LLP MI cut its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $18,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRSK. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6,050.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.10, for a total transaction of $1,723,783.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,701 shares in the company, valued at $18,036,588.10. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,259 shares of company stock valued at $7,553,769 over the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $306.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $42.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $304.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.70. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.59 and a 52-week high of $322.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 33.13% and a return on equity of 396.08%. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.