Retirement Systems of Alabama Lowers Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 464 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $8,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’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 value of $54,266.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total transaction of $280,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. The trade was 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 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $280.22 on Wednesday. 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 market capitalization of $39.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $296.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $280.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $273.24.

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 net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.80.

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.