Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Invests $1.90 Million in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,102 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,903,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 36,740 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,845,000 after acquiring an additional 3,040 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter valued at about $1,379,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 57.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 136,700 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,630,000 after purchasing an additional 49,661 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 30.2% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 7,190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position 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 valued at $49,521,000 after buying an additional 113,230 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded down $1.66 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $285.02. 557,490 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 779,771. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $296.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.82, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $278.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.07.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 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 company had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.80.

About Verisk Analytics

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.