Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 30.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,619 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 613 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 101.5% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $79,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.11.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of VRSK opened at $282.59 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $296.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $281.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $275.06. 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.