Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC Buys New Shares in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at $79,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 418.8% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 332 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $268.63 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $296.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $282.62 and a 200-day moving average of $274.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $37.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.91, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,517,157.87. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,579 shares of company stock valued at $1,000,407. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.11.

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.