Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,822 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.06% of Verisk Analytics worth $23,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird upped 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.11.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $292.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $282.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.93. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $296.94. The company has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a PE ratio of 45.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

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.