3,660 Shares in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Acquired by RIA Advisory Group LLC

RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 85.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $2,340,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 10,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 99,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,376,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of VRSK stock traded down $5.33 on Friday, reaching $280.80. 522,708 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 631,707. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $271.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $266.46. The company has a market capitalization of $39.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $291.42.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus 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.