Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Holdings Lessened by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,757,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 208,914 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,274,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,322,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.8% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’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 $4,471,535.92. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value 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. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 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 Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $284.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $40.13 billion, a PE ratio of 44.34, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $271.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $267.79. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $291.42.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released 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. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.