Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 5,119 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 72.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,119 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $296.91 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.35. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $300.50. 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 $41.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.32, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.87%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was 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 $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.