Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Verisk Analytics worth $22,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% during the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock opened at $304.17 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $305.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $293.28. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.59 and a 12-month high of $322.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13. The company has a market capitalization of $42.55 billion, a PE ratio of 44.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.87.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 33.13% and a return on equity of 396.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total value of $3,649,027.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,051,406.64. This trade represents a 14.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,259 shares of company stock worth $7,553,769 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VRSK. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.40.

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.