Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Position Trimmed by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 93.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 65,614 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 55.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 76.7% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at about $240,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 58.0% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 27,343 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,370,000 after purchasing an additional 10,032 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This trade represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,570. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $277.98 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $281.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.37, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.88. 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 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $296.58.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.