Blue Trust Inc. Sells 1,365 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 68.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 641 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,365 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,237,700,000 after purchasing an additional 283,653 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,144,000 after buying an additional 261,961 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 46.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $164,750,000 after purchasing an additional 195,700 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 158.2% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 184,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,521,000 after purchasing an additional 113,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $331,476,000 after buying an additional 78,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $292.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $282.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $276.93. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $296.94.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders 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 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.11.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.