BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 3,056 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 229,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,056 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.16% of Verisk Analytics worth $61,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth approximately $198,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.4% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 7,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,237,700,000 after purchasing an additional 283,653 shares during the last quarter. Bowie Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.0% in the third quarter. Bowie Capital Management LLC now owns 62,955 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,869,000 after purchasing an additional 7,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 11.2% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $294.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $41.60 billion, a PE ratio of 45.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $296.58. 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 50 day moving average price of $274.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $269.42.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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 $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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 equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.