Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $214.15, but opened at $203.72. Verisk Analytics shares last traded at $201.69, with a volume of 121,016 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRSK. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a “sell” rating and set a $220.00 target price (down previously from $280.00) on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $315.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $262.00 to $250.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $334.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $274.07.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 2.5%

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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $219.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $239.28. The company has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,738.10. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $238,689.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,883,340.93. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,700 shares of company stock valued at $369,648. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verisk Analytics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $556,192,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 334.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 754,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,237,000 after acquiring an additional 580,885 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1,879.0% in the third quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 566,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,414,000 after purchasing an additional 537,623 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 232.3% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 760,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $191,298,000 after purchasing an additional 531,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 114.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 987,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $248,243,000 after purchasing an additional 526,508 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.