Grandfield & Dodd LLC Has $38.81 Million Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 301 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics accounts for approximately 2.3% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Grandfield & Dodd LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Verisk Analytics worth $38,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth about $401,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,441,000. NS Partners Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.7% during the third quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 125,619 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,661,000 after purchasing an additional 4,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,141 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,717,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $281.64 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $271.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.68. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $291.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.77 billion, a PE ratio of 43.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,471,535.92. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.