Principal Securities Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Principal Securities Inc. lessened its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 30.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,351 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $293.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $276.50. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $296.94. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $41.42 billion, a PE ratio of 45.76, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.