Blueshift Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after purchasing an additional 283,653 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,144,000 after acquiring an additional 261,961 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 60.4% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,941,000 after acquiring an additional 203,951 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth $28,739,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 187.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 171,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,305,000 after purchasing an additional 111,992 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares in the company, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $294.56 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.59. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $296.58. The firm has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on VRSK. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently 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.