Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,472,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 285,099 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 3.17% of Verisk Analytics worth $1,231,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $298.61 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $291.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.89 billion, a PE ratio of 46.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.10.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The firm 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding 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 usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.33.

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.