Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,757,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 208,914 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 3.37% of Verisk Analytics worth $1,274,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,322,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.8% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Six 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,471,535.92. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,517,157.87. This trade represents 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 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.9 %

VRSK stock opened at $284.20 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $271.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $291.42. The firm has a market cap of $40.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.34, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.