Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Bought by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $295.11 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $282.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.39. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $296.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $41.67 billion, a PE ratio of 46.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were 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 $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $313.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.33.

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.