Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Purchased by Two Sigma Advisers LP

Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 614,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 195,700 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $164,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $288.90 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $277.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $296.58. 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.