Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 9,257 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 223,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,257 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 0.16% of Verisk Analytics worth $61,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $526,676,000. Amundi raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,226,000 after acquiring an additional 430,719 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,646,000 after acquiring an additional 393,218 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,435,012,000 after acquiring an additional 392,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock opened at $286.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $291.74 and a 200-day moving average of $284.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.68.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays downgraded 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 research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.