Riverbridge Partners LLC Sells 15,562 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Riverbridge Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 353,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,562 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics comprises approximately 1.3% of Riverbridge Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $97,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,237,700,000 after acquiring an additional 283,653 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $436,204,000 after buying an additional 111,364 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $331,476,000 after buying an additional 78,376 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $214,676,000 after buying an additional 8,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 46.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $164,750,000 after acquiring an additional 195,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,517,157.87. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,471,535.92. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $279.35 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $281.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $296.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.45 billion, a PE ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.11.

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.