Franklin Resources Inc. Has $331.48 Million Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 78,376 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.87% of Verisk Analytics worth $331,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,237,700,000 after acquiring an additional 283,653 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $73,144,000 after acquiring an additional 261,961 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $145,941,000 after purchasing an additional 203,951 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 46.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $164,750,000 after purchasing an additional 195,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 158.2% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 184,806 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $49,521,000 after purchasing an additional 113,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.5 %

Verisk Analytics stock traded down $1.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $283.35. 530,250 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 617,693. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $279.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $272.47. 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 $40.01 billion, a PE ratio of 44.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $296.58.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company 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%. Verisk Analytics's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % 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. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $289.80.

Verisk Analytics 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.