Hengehold Capital Management LLC Sells 66 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Hengehold Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth $79,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $277.98 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $296.58. The company has a market cap of $39.25 billion, a PE ratio of 43.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $281.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.11.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.