Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Increases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 121.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,428 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 45,812 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.06% of Verisk Analytics worth $22,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.5 %

VRSK traded down $1.51 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $292.70. 468,043 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 780,245. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $296.58. The firm has a market cap of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $275.42 and a 200 day moving average of $270.24.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $722.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.