Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,939 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $16,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 94.8% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 225.5% in the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 205,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,993,000 after acquiring an additional 142,088 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 8,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after acquiring an additional 3,219 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $698,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,803,000 after buying an additional 7,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value of $55,476.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total transaction of $55,476.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 726 shares of company stock valued at $196,682 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $272.07. The stock had a trading volume of 140,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,008. The company has a market capitalization of $38.82 billion, a PE ratio of 50.69, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.67. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.32 and a twelve month high of $287.13.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The company had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

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.