R Squared Ltd Takes Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 390 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $79,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $288.08 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $281.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $296.58. The company has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a PE ratio of 44.94, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.