Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $28.45 Million Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,046 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.07% of Verisk Analytics worth $28,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $79,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $278.93 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $296.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $281.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.93. The stock has a market cap of $39.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.