Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by Quest Partners LLC

Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 423.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,392 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,979 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 384.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 27,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,471,000 after acquiring an additional 22,124 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth $229,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the third quarter valued at $981,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 7.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 134,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,037,000 after purchasing an additional 9,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $73,144,000 after purchasing an additional 261,961 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This trade represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the 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 Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $280.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.37. 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 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $291.42.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Verisk Analytics 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.