Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 466,951 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 52,860 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.33% of Verisk Analytics worth $125,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 423.1% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,392 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,981,000 after buying an additional 5,979 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 384.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 27,881 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,471,000 after acquiring an additional 22,124 shares during the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $229,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $981,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 134,486 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,037,000 after purchasing an additional 9,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "in-line" rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $280.36. 799,957 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 788,155. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $271.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.04. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $291.42. The firm has a market cap of $39.59 billion, a PE ratio of 43.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction 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 approximately $4,289,184.64. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics 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.