Metis Global Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Metis Global Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 388 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in 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 in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $247.00 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $209.02 and a 1 year high of $251.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $231.47 and a 200 day moving average of $236.09. The firm has a market cap of $35.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.08, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.79.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The business had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 29.10%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.31.

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.