Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by First Hawaiian Bank

First Hawaiian Bank lessened its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,211,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 23,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,397,000 after buying an additional 1,713 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth about $249,000. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 11,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 9,525.0% during the 2nd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $280.42 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $296.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.60 billion, a PE ratio of 43.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $282.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $274.55.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on 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, BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $293.11.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction of $54,266.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,579 shares of company stock worth $1,000,407. 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.