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

Quent Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 36.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 212 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $58,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Index Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $205,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Panoramic Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Sycomore Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 24,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,923,385.73. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,545,528. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock opened at $295.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $281.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $276.04. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $296.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company has a market cap of $41.73 billion, a PE ratio of 46.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of a number of analyst 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics 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.