Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Fort L.P.

Fort L.P. lowered its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 941 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Fort L.P.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRSK shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock traded up $0.76 on Friday, hitting $275.48. 1,047,078 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 609,307. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $287.13. The stock has a market cap of $38.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $269.07 and a 200-day moving average of $262.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.