Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP trimmed its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 81.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,929 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock opened at $292.70 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $275.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.24. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $296.58. The firm has a market cap of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,471,535.92. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at $14,923,385.73. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.