Atria Investments Inc Sells 2,474 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Atria Investments Inc lowered its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,474 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $4,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.7 %

VRSK stock opened at $300.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $286.38 and a 200-day moving average of $279.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $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 quarter, insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.