Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 22,124 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 384.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,881 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,124 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 35,908 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,622,000 after purchasing an additional 4,767 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 44,290 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,374 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,325,000. OFI Invest Asset Management increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,181.7% in the second quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 2,875 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth approximately $28,739,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $290.73 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $41.05 billion, a PE ratio of 45.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $272.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.27. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $291.42.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total transaction of $280,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.80.

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.