Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 81 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 750 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 81 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.2% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 22,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,906,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $636,000. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 195,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 9,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $222.10 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.86 and a 12-month high of $251.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $236.86 and a 200-day moving average of $237.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. The stock has a market cap of $31.70 billion, a PE ratio of 52.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The firm had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,528,824.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.