Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) CEO Sells $84,455.54 in Stock

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK – Get Rating) CEO Lee Shavel sold 487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.42, for a total value of $84,455.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 42,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,366,708.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Lee Shavel also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 2nd, Lee Shavel sold 483 shares of Verisk Analytics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.64, for a total value of $98,358.12.
• On Friday, April 1st, Lee Shavel sold 483 shares of Verisk Analytics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.88, for a total value of $103,787.04.

Shares of VRSK stock traded up $4.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $176.00. The stock had a trading volume of 670,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,435. The business’s fifty day moving average is $197.28 and its 200-day moving average is $203.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $27.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.96 and a 1-year high of $231.57.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 3rd. The business services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $775.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $773.79 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.92% and a return on equity of 32.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 15th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.06%.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,234,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,699,137,000 after buying an additional 210,957 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,140,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,605,808,000 after buying an additional 456,834 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.3% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,394,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,587,186,000 after buying an additional 92,925 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,897,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,577,619,000 after buying an additional 60,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 316.4% in the first quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,821,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,034,892,000 after buying an additional 3,663,826 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.29% of the company’s stock.

Several research firms have recently commented on VRSK. StockNews.com began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $197.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 19th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Friday, March 11th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.80.

Verisk Analytics Company Profile (Get Rating)

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics solutions in the United States and internationally. The company provides predictive analytics and decision support solutions to customers in rating, underwriting, claims, catastrophe and weather risk, global risk analytics, natural resources intelligence, economic forecasting, commercial banking and finance, and various other fields.

See Also

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Verisk Analytics (VRSK)
• PVH Corp. Looks Sharp For A Major Reversal 
• The Analysts Reel In Their Targets For NetApp
• 3 Regional Banks Investors Can Bank On
• Don’t Get Gamed By Gamestop
• What To Do With Lululemon (NASDAQ: LULU)

Want More Great Investing Ideas?