Veritable L.P. Increases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Veritable L.P. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Veritable L.P.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $845,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at $27,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 153.1% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 61.2% during the second quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Therese M. Vaughan sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.45, for a total transaction of $1,510,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,679 shares in the company, valued at $4,806,833.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,516 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.63, for a total transaction of $370,859.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,151 shares in the company, valued at $10,556,029.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Therese M. Vaughan sold 6,500 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.45, for a total transaction of $1,510,925.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,806,833.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,532 shares of company stock worth $2,254,750. Insiders own 1.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $260.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Argus started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, September 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $288.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $267.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.23.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $237.12 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.74 and a 12-month high of $249.26. The stock has a market cap of $34.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.74, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $237.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.22.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 1st. The business services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 19.04% and a return on equity of 135.34%. The firm had revenue of $677.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $663.33 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

About Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics solutions to the insurance markets in the United States and internationally. The company provides predictive analytics and decision support solutions to customers in rating, underwriting, claims, catastrophe and weather risk, global risk analytics, and various other fields.