Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 106,805 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 69.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 106,805 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $11,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSK. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 248.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,765,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $664,346,000 after buying an additional 2,684,234 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 1,404.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,992,727 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $470,762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860,298 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $268,659,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,523,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,777,279,000 after purchasing an additional 392,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,205,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $212,612,000 after purchasing an additional 346,785 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $222.10 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.86 and a 12-month high of $251.98. The company has a market capitalization of $31.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $236.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The firm had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 37.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

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.