Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Purchased by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 332.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,520 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 292.4% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 4,342 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 109.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 6,645 shares during the period. 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 acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth approximately $226,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $281.64 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $291.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $271.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $267.68. The company has a market capitalization of $39.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.94, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its 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. 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 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 paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This trade represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on 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 upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.