Empirical Finance LLC Reduces Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,062 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,570. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock opened at $293.73 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $281.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.69. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $296.58. 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 $41.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.11.

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.