Caxton Associates LP Lowers Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)
by Tristan Rich · The Markets DailyCaxton Associates LP reduced its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK – Free Report) by 28.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,975 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $61,812,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $87,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $1,702,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,908,000. Finally, BNP Paribas raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 1,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
VRSK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays downgraded 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 Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.40.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Verisk Analytics
Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics
In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.2 %
Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $293.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $237.09 and a 12-month high of $306.68. The company has a market cap of $41.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.85, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $291.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $285.69.
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. Research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.
Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.
Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
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.
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