Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 257 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth approximately $79,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $278.93 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $296.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $281.49 and its 200 day moving average is $274.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.39 billion, a PE ratio of 43.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was 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. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus 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.