Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stake Boosted by NS Partners Ltd

NS Partners Ltd lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,619 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,479 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics accounts for about 1.4% of NS Partners Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. NS Partners Ltd owned about 0.09% of Verisk Analytics worth $33,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1.8% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,517,157.87. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded up $2.56 on Wednesday, hitting $284.20. 425,974 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 786,749. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm's 50-day moving average is $271.61 and its 200 day moving average is $267.68. The stock has a market cap of $40.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.56, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $291.42.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.