Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 29.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This trade represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,379 shares of company stock valued at $946,141 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.0 %

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $278.55 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $282.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.70. The stock has a market cap of $39.33 billion, a PE ratio of 43.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $296.58. 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. The firm 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.11.

About Verisk Analytics

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.