SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 67,811 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 74.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,825 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 67,811 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 29,013 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth $2,398,000. New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth $694,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 55,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,083,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total transaction of $55,476.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $265.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.90 billion, a PE ratio of 49.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.32 and a 52 week high of $287.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $268.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $257.05.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The business had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $268.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.69.

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.