Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 229,775 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,056 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.16% of Verisk Analytics worth $61,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 899.1% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,919 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 10,726 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 35,908 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,622,000 after purchasing an additional 4,767 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 44,290 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,868,000 after buying an additional 2,374 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth $1,325,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,181.7% during the 2nd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 2,875 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 2,749 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of VRSK stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $294.56. 482,544 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 687,697. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $296.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a PE ratio of 45.95, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $274.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $269.59.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Verisk Analytics's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction 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 approximately $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at $15,517,157.87. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.