Parnassus Investments LLC Reduces Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,107,203 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 18,513 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC owned 1.49% of Verisk Analytics worth $564,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $73,144,000 after buying an additional 261,961 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 60.4% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $145,941,000 after purchasing an additional 203,951 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth approximately $28,739,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 187.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 171,835 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $46,305,000 after purchasing an additional 111,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 7.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $436,204,000 after purchasing an additional 111,364 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $281.64. 996,508 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 787,175. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $291.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $271.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.77 billion, a PE ratio of 44.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.80.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is 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.