Stephens Inc. AR Cuts Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 707 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 3,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 168.2% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,668,000 after buying an additional 3,799 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $757,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,669 shares of company stock worth $1,889,316 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on VRSK. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.11.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $294.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.91, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $281.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.81. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $296.58.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

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.