Geode Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Geode Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,792,140 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 238,744 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.69% of Verisk Analytics worth $1,015,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,237,700,000 after buying an additional 283,653 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $73,144,000 after purchasing an additional 261,961 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 46.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $164,750,000 after buying an additional 195,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 158.2% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 184,806 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $49,521,000 after buying an additional 113,230 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $285.30. 423,407 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 778,286. The company's 50 day moving average is $278.96 and its 200 day moving average is $272.16. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $40.29 billion, a PE ratio of 44.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $280,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $289.80.

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.