Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 66.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,176 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 19,928 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRSK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised 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 raised 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 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764 over the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $0.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $294.56. The stock had a trading volume of 482,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 687,697. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $296.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.59.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. The firm 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 was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.