US Bancorp DE Sells 1,971 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

US Bancorp DE cut its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,976 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,971 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $11,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.9% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,659 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,273 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,413,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 110.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,807 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 949 shares during the period. Cavalier Investments LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC now owns 12,562 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,366,000 after buying an additional 759 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,583,000 after buying an additional 2,671 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock traded up $0.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $275.48. 1,047,078 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 609,307. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $287.13. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $269.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.81. The company has a market cap of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 42.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other 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 transaction of $54,266.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.