BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 3,537 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,806 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,537 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 121.8% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 83,428 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $22,355,000 after purchasing an additional 45,812 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 86,008 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $23,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.4% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 9,504 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at $705,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.8% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,183 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $3.65 on Tuesday, reaching $289.05. 953,723 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 780,990. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50 day moving average is $276.45 and its 200-day moving average is $270.80. 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 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $296.58.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, 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 value of $286,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at $15,517,157.87. This trade represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on VRSK. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.80.

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.