Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $562,000 Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 670 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 506.5% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock remained flat at $222.25 during trading hours on Wednesday. 938,745 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 875,406. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.86 and a 12-month high of $251.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $234.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.93. The stock has a market cap of $31.72 billion, a PE ratio of 52.79, a PEG ratio of 2.78 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.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. Verisk Analytics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. 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 dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America cut shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.00.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.