Insider Selling: Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Director Sells 1,179 Shares of Stock

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total transaction of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Bruce Edward Hansen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 7th, Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $293.06 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $296.58. The company has a market capitalization of $41.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $281.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.92.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.11.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

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.