Calamos Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Calamos Advisors LLC reduced its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,368 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 828 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $15,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of VRSK traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $222.50. The company had a trading volume of 93,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 865,584. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $235.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $237.26. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.86 and a 52-week high of $251.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.