Clarius Group LLC Trims Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Clarius Group LLC lowered its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $309,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 421.9% in the 4th quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,011,000 after buying an additional 60,957 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at $349,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 558,840 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,020,000 after acquiring an additional 31,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 552,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $130,479,000 after acquiring an additional 99,115 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $222.53 on Monday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.86 and a 12-month high of $251.98. The company has a market cap of $31.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $237.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.69.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The company had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.12, for a total value of $361,499.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,035,744.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,771 shares of company stock valued at $2,307,406 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $252.00.

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.