WASHINGTON TRUST Co Cuts Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co reduced its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,057 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co owned 0.05% of Verisk Analytics worth $21,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,545,528. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $293.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.44 billion, a PE ratio of 45.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $281.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $296.94.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.11.

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.