Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires 2,042 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 58,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,042 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $15,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth approximately $1,325,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 33,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,029,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at about $427,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reaffirmed 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 raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, October 17th. Six investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 15,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,471,535.92. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $286.68 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a market cap of $40.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.72, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $296.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $278.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $271.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 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.