Artemis Investment Management LLP Lowers Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Artemis Investment Management LLP trimmed its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $307,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.8 %

VRSK opened at $277.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $215.32 and a one year high of $287.13. The company has a market cap of $39.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.51, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.67.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS 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 net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Seven 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 price target of $276.69.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total transaction of $55,476.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.