KBC Group NV Purchases 6,866 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

KBC Group NV grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,866 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $11,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after acquiring an additional 283,653 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,144,000 after purchasing an additional 261,961 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 46.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $164,750,000 after purchasing an additional 195,700 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 158.2% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 184,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,521,000 after purchasing an additional 113,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $331,476,000 after buying an additional 78,376 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $282.59 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $281.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $296.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $725.30 million for 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,570. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.11.

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.