SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 39,713 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 87.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,666 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 39,713 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total transaction of $3,649,027.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 67,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,051,406.64. The trade was a 14.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,259 shares of company stock worth $7,553,769. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 1.1%

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $310.41 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $303.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.39. 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 $257.59 and a twelve month high of $322.92. The company has a market capitalization of $43.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.87.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSK. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.40.

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.