Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 10.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 788 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 91 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 85.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,340,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 2.7% during the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 10,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 0.5% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 99,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,376,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.9% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $280.80 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $291.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $271.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSK. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.80.

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.