Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Holdings Lifted by Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC

Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $79,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.11.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $273.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.66 billion, a PE ratio of 42.72, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $296.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $282.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.68.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,379 shares of company stock valued at $946,141. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics 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.