Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Purchased by Fiera Capital Corp

Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,891 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,710 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $13,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 966.7% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 186.7% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on VRSK. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.30.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded down $6.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $271.89. 1,544,019 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 884,367. The business's 50-day moving average price is $306.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.26. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $259.22 and a twelve month high of $322.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34. The company has a market capitalization of $38.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 27.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $1,630,360.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 55,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,821,985.18. The trade was a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total transaction of $98,080.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,803,714.34. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,825 shares of company stock valued at $8,947,730. 0.46% of the stock is owned by 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.