Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 5,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $885,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 12.5% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1,895.0% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 40,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,717,000 after buying an additional 38,013 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 204 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth about $16,857,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 297.6% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,682,000 after acquiring an additional 48,707 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $248.00 to $217.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $223.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $247.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.79.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $190.71 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.94 and a 12 month high of $227.16. The stock has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $181.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.95.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $806.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $804.02 million. Verisk Analytics had a negative return on equity of 239.55% and a net margin of 28.24%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 3,535 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.43, for a total transaction of $683,775.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,050,920.70. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.85, for a total transaction of $73,940.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,250,402.40. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,805 shares of company stock worth $2,203,266. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Profile

Verisk Analytics, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSK), doing business as Verisk, is a global data analytics and technology company serving the insurance industry and other risk-focused markets. Its platforms help organizations use data, statistical models and workflow tools to evaluate risk, make decisions and improve operational efficiency.

Verisk’s insurance offerings support underwriting, pricing, claims management, fraud detection, catastrophe modeling and regulatory compliance. Its products include industry data, predictive analytics, property and casualty risk solutions, claims-estimating tools and information used by insurers to assess property, vehicles, businesses and other exposures.