Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 45 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,184 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after purchasing an additional 283,653 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,226,000 after acquiring an additional 430,719 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $331,476,000 after acquiring an additional 78,376 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 822,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $226,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 782,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $231,532,000 after purchasing an additional 81,604 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $288.58 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 $40.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $287.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.20.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lowered shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

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.