Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Holdings Lowered by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC lowered its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 409,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,525 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.29% of Verisk Analytics worth $112,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 61,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 105,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,011,000 after acquiring an additional 42,883 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 41,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,957,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $295.05 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $283.59. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $306.68. 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 firm has a market cap of $41.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. 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 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,628,433. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.40.

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.