Verition Fund Management LLC Reduces Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Verition Fund Management LLC cut its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,768 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,395 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $280,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $3.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $289.05. 953,723 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 780,990. The company has a market cap of $40.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $296.58. 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 50-day simple moving average of $276.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.80.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of 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 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.