Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,648 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,468 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 72.4% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,464 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the period. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth about $495,000. BOKF NA raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 5,852 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 147.6% during the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 12,875 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 7,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 565.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 79,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,795,000 after purchasing an additional 67,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.
Verisk Analytics Price Performance
Shares of VRSK traded up $3.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $290.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 649,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 697,556. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $291.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.36, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $272.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.59.
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS 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 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 firm's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.80.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on VRSK
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Verisk Analytics Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Read More
Before you consider Verisk Analytics, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Verisk Analytics wasn't on the list.
While Verisk Analytics currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Looking to avoid the hassle of mudslinging, volatility, and uncertainty? You'd need to be out of the market, which isn’t viable. So where should investors put their money? Find out with this report.
Get This Free Report
