Intech Investment Management LLC Buys 5,493 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,493 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $436,204,000 after purchasing an additional 111,364 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,502,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $405,030,000 after purchasing an additional 78,008 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,137,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $268,041,000 after purchasing an additional 12,231 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,103,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,491,000 after purchasing an additional 85,202 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 613,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $165,284,000 after purchasing an additional 38,258 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock opened at $287.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $272.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.93. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $291.42. The firm has a market cap of $40.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.84, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total transaction of $280,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.