Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 295 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,265 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 295 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $670,000. Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 280.9% in the 4th quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 5,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 4,132 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 12,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,036,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 23,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $627,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $272.22 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $268.04 and a 200-day moving average of $257.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.32 and a 12-month high of $287.13. The firm has a market cap of $38.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.79, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The company had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 29.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total transaction of $55,476.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,251.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $268.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.69.

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.