New Century Financial Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

New Century Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 580 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 55.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 76.7% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth about $240,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 58.0% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 27,343 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,370,000 after purchasing an additional 10,032 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.5 %

VRSK stock opened at $277.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.37, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $296.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $281.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $274.91.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. 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, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction 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 represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,570 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.11.

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.