Cerity Partners LLC Buys 6,736 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,233 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,736 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $12,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "in-line" rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 15,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % 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 over the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock traded up $0.76 on Tuesday, reaching $291.49. 709,292 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 703,423. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $293.19. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $273.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.16 billion, a PE ratio of 45.47, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

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.