NS Partners Ltd Increases Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

NS Partners Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,619 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,479 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics comprises approximately 1.4% of NS Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $33,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRSK. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 292.4% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after buying an additional 4,342 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 109.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,000,000 after acquiring an additional 6,645 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at approximately $266,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.5 %

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $281.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $271.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.68. 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 twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $291.42.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

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.