Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Holdings Lifted by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 47,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $14,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 3,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the first quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.2% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.3% in the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% in the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $98,080.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,319 shares in the company, valued at $2,803,714.34. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.88, for a total transaction of $91,164.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 15,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,790,668.20. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,120 shares of company stock worth $7,192,416 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VRSK shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.60.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $267.42 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.17 and a twelve month high of $322.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market cap of $37.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.20, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $299.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $296.99.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The company had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Verisk Analytics Company Profile

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.