PEAK6 Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $705,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,183 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,657,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,936,000 after acquiring an additional 8,884 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth approximately $3,118,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at approximately $391,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 10.0% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 16,381 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $289.05 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $296.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $276.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $270.80. The stock has a market cap of $40.82 billion, a PE ratio of 45.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.87.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus 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 on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at $15,517,157.87. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.