Fenimore Asset Management Inc Acquires 830 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Fenimore Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 123,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc owned about 0.09% of Verisk Analytics worth $33,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,322,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.8% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.8% in the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.2% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $278.93 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $281.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $296.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,570. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.11.

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.