Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,787 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth about $34,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $295.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $282.65 and a 200 day moving average of $277.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a market cap of $41.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $296.94.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $313.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.33.

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.