Bank of Montreal Can Decreases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,680 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,747 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.15% of Verisk Analytics worth $54,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $73,144,000 after acquiring an additional 261,961 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position 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 worth $145,941,000 after purchasing an additional 203,951 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth $28,739,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 187.1% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in 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 worth $436,204,000 after purchasing an additional 111,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $294.56. The company had a trading volume of 482,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 687,697. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.95, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50-day moving average price is $274.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $269.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $296.58.

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, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,517,157.87. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 15,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "in-line" rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.