Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 7.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 829 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,941,000 after acquiring an additional 203,951 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth about $28,739,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 187.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 171,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,305,000 after buying an additional 111,992 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 7.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $436,204,000 after buying an additional 111,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 33.7% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 373,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,758,000 after acquiring an additional 94,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $280.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $39.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.04. 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. The business 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%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics 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.