Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,123,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,854 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.80% of Verisk Analytics worth $309,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.11.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total transaction of $347,746.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,180.70. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $293.48 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $281.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $276.17. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $296.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company has a market cap of $41.44 billion, a PE ratio of 45.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.