Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Bought by Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 27,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,441,000 after acquiring an additional 4,036 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 16.6% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 47,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,657,000 after purchasing an additional 6,736 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 899.1% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after buying an additional 10,726 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $214,676,000 after buying an additional 8,262 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’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 transaction of $54,266.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total transaction of $280,710.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of VRSK opened at $290.73 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $291.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $272.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.59.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.80.

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.