Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 6,468 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,648 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,468 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,144,000 after purchasing an additional 261,961 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,941,000 after buying an additional 203,951 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at $28,739,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 187.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 171,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,305,000 after acquiring an additional 111,992 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $436,204,000 after acquiring an additional 111,364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $290.73 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 firm has a market cap of $41.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $291.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $272.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.42.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Barclays raised their target price 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 increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.