Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Makes New $834,000 Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $834,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at about $46,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Six investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $294.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $41.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.95, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $274.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $296.58.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced 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. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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 issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company 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.