Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by TimesSquare Capital Management LLC

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 398,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 21,085 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics comprises 1.6% of TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $109,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Callahan Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 17,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,683,000 after buying an additional 1,458 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 29,469.0% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 233,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $64,176,000 after buying an additional 232,216 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 45,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,540,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 473 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % 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 Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $293.30 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $282.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $276.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.89. 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 one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $296.94.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.