KBC Group NV Raises Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,774 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,866 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $11,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 101.5% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter valued at $79,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $4.33 during trading on Thursday, reaching $286.92. The stock had a trading volume of 153,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 714,753. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $281.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $275.11. 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 cap of $40.52 billion, a PE ratio of 44.75, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. Verisk Analytics's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $293.11.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated 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 $4,471,535.92. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,570. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.