Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $18.94 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 14.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,884 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $18,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,237,700,000 after buying an additional 283,653 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $436,204,000 after acquiring an additional 111,364 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,502,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $405,030,000 after purchasing an additional 78,008 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,103,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,491,000 after purchasing an additional 85,202 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $214,676,000 after purchasing an additional 8,262 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $294.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a PE ratio of 45.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $275.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $269.93. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $296.58.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total transaction of $280,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sold a total of 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 in the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. 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. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.