Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can cut its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,747 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.15% of Verisk Analytics worth $54,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bowie Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bowie Capital Management LLC now owns 62,955 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,869,000 after purchasing an additional 7,754 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $377,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $834,000. Finally, Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 12,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,414,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSK. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.1 %

VRSK opened at $294.56 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $274.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $269.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $296.58. The company has a market cap of $41.60 billion, a PE ratio of 45.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders 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 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at $15,517,157.87. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 approximately $4,471,535.92. This represents a 1.27 % 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. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

About Verisk Analytics

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.