Pensionfund Sabic Invests $1.43 Million in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Pensionfund Sabic bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 283,653 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $436,204,000 after purchasing an additional 111,364 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $331,476,000 after buying an additional 78,376 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 8.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,103,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,491,000 after buying an additional 85,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 8,262 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,163 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.80.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $2.11 on Monday, hitting $274.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 86,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 619,105. The firm has a market cap of $38.72 billion, a PE ratio of 42.77, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $282.15 and its 200 day moving average is $274.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current 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 $296.58.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 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.