Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,736 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $12,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $291.49 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $273.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.91. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $293.19. The stock has a market cap of $41.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.47, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued 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 0.54%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, 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 owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at $15,517,157.87. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.