JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 28,769 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 693,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 28,769 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $185,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after buying an additional 283,653 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,144,000 after acquiring an additional 261,961 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,941,000 after acquiring an additional 203,951 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $164,750,000 after purchasing an additional 195,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 158.2% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 184,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,521,000 after purchasing an additional 113,230 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of VRSK opened at $275.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $296.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.97, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $281.57 and a 200-day moving average of $274.32.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

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.