Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK – Get Rating) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 263,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,600 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $44,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 13.8% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,663,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $980,327,000 after acquiring an additional 686,034 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 23.3% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,058,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $521,629,000 after buying an additional 578,564 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 18.0% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,085,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,022,000 after buying an additional 470,968 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at $65,857,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 154.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 471,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $101,284,000 after buying an additional 286,687 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSK. Redburn Partners began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $165.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $201.00 to $206.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christopher M. Foskett sold 6,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $1,211,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,658,860. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Christopher M. Foskett sold 6,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $1,211,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,658,860. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David B. Wright sold 4,912 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.37, for a total value of $895,801.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,718,954.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,752 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,210 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.78% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $180.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $180.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.55. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.05 and a 1 year high of $222.11.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The business services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $630.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.30 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 32.92%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 22.82%.

Verisk Analytics Profile

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Verisk Analytics, Inc engages in the provision of data analytics services. It serves insurance customers and focuses on the prediction of loss, the selection and pricing of risk, and compliance. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Jersey City, NJ.