Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Position Trimmed by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management trimmed its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 28.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,709 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.69.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $269.23 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.32 and a twelve month high of $287.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $38.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $268.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $258.72.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.10%.

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.