Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Raises Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 28.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 314 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Appleton Partners Inc. MA lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.3% in the third quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 22,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,287,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $301,000. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $3,368,000. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $7,016,000. Finally, BOKF NA raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 82.2% during the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 6,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 2,862 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,516 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.02, for a total value of $372,966.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,807,904.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Therese M. Vaughan sold 6,500 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.45, for a total transaction of $1,510,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,833.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.02, for a total value of $372,966.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,807,904.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,532 shares of company stock valued at $2,254,750 over the last quarter. 1.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on VRSK. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $201.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $260.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $288.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $248.23.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $237.12. 729,187 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,008,573. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.22, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.74 and a 12-month high of $249.26.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The business services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $677.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $663.33 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 19.04% and a return on equity of 135.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 5.72 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Verisk Analytics Company Profile

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics solutions to the insurance markets 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, and various other fields.