Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 717 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 717 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth $834,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $377,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 11.2% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 283,653 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $292.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $290.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.08. 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 $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays downgraded 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 research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047. 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.