Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Simplicity Wealth LLC

Simplicity Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 46.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 929 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 796 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $298.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.49, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $286.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.70. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $306.10. 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its 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 analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Profile

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.