Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $1.74 Million Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lowered its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 17.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,376 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of VRSK opened at $277.98 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $281.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $296.58. The company has a market cap of $39.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.37, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This trade represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,471,535.92. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.11.

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.