Janus Henderson Group PLC Raises Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $9,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $287.06 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.78, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $277.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.57. 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 fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $296.58.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced 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 period last year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics 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.