Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Has $187.66 Million Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. lessened its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 700,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 38,109 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics makes up approximately 2.7% of Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $187,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,144,000 after buying an additional 261,961 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,941,000 after acquiring an additional 203,951 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $28,739,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 187.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 171,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,305,000 after acquiring an additional 111,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $436,204,000 after acquiring an additional 111,364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $5.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $280.80. The stock had a trading volume of 522,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 631,707. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $271.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $291.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Six 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.