Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Position Reduced by Marks Group Wealth Management Inc

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc trimmed its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,393 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.4% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 3,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth about $1,115,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 288,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $67,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,293,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $279.68 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $287.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $269.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.59. The firm has a market cap of $39.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Verisk Analytics

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.