B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 7,208 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lessened its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 23.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,208 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $297.62 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $291.20 and its 200 day moving average is $281.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $306.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $735.60 million for 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, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

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.