Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 690 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 690 shares during the quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 72.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at $495,000. BOKF NA increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.1% during the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 5,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 147.6% during the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 12,875 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,035,000 after buying an additional 7,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 565.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 79,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,795,000 after buying an additional 67,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $290.73 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $291.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.05 billion, a PE ratio of 45.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. 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

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,471,535.92. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total transaction of $280,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Six equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.80.

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.