Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Lowers Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 271,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,861 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.19% of Verisk Analytics worth $74,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.4% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 7,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,936,000 after buying an additional 8,884 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,183 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,657,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $705,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.4% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 9,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $294.58 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $290.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.39. The stock has a market cap of $41.32 billion, a PE ratio of 45.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. On average, analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 26.87%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.