Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 205,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,747 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $54,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 72.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $581,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $495,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 131.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 45,960 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,832,000 after buying an additional 26,115 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 164.0% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,459,000 after buying an additional 3,847 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. Barclays increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Six research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total transaction of $280,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction of $54,266.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK opened at $294.56 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $274.26 and its 200-day moving average is $269.42. The stock has a market cap of $41.60 billion, a PE ratio of 45.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.86. 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 $296.58.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

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.