Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,010 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $17,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after acquiring an additional 283,653 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $436,204,000 after purchasing an additional 111,364 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,502,614 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $405,030,000 after purchasing an additional 78,008 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 8.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,103,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $297,491,000 after buying an additional 85,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,150 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $214,676,000 after buying an additional 8,262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $1.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $285.02. 557,490 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 779,771. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $296.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $40.25 billion, a PE ratio of 44.82, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50-day moving average is $278.61 and its 200-day moving average is $272.07.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $725.30 million during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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 reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.