Howard Capital Management Group LLC Invests $189,000 in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 688 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $189,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at $79,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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. Finally, Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.11.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,471,535.92. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.5 %

VRSK opened at $280.06 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $296.58. 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 has a market cap of $39.55 billion, a PE ratio of 43.69, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average of $282.06 and a 200-day moving average of $274.84.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

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.