Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 321,477 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,666 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics accounts for approximately 1.2% of Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $88,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after buying an additional 283,653 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $331,476,000 after purchasing an additional 78,376 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,676,000 after purchasing an additional 8,262 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 46.7% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 385,195 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $103,217,000 after buying an additional 7,098 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was 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 $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,570. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $293.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $281.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $275.71. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $296.58. 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 cap of $41.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Verisk Analytics

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.