Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK Shares Sold by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lessened its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 75.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,782 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 39.6% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 11,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after buying an additional 3,385 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 114.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth about $383,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,872,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Verisk Analytics from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $334.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $315.00 to $239.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Verisk Analytics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $310.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.64.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $238,689.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 77,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,883,340.93. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.54, for a total transaction of $65,862.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,738.10. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,700 shares of company stock valued at $369,648 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $216.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.55. The stock has a market cap of $30.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.02, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $220.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $242.47. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.99 and a 12-month high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $768.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $776.04 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 425.42% and a net margin of 30.42%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

About Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSK) is a data analytics and decision?support provider that helps organizations assess and manage risk. The company supplies data, predictive models and software to customers in insurance, reinsurance, financial services, government, energy and other commercial markets. Its offerings are designed to support underwriting, pricing, claims management, catastrophe modeling, fraud detection and regulatory compliance, enabling clients to make more informed operational and strategic decisions.

Verisk’s product portfolio combines large proprietary datasets with analytics platforms and industry?specific applications.