Garrison Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Garrison Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 137 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics accounts for 1.6% of Garrison Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Garrison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 8.0% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 117.1% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 267 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 16.8% during the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 9.1% during the third quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America downgraded Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $0.65 during trading on Monday, hitting $223.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 726,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,198. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.86 and a fifty-two week high of $251.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $235.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.16. The company has a market capitalization of $31.86 billion, a PE ratio of 52.86, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.