Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 34,456 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 38.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,456 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Verisk Analytics worth $33,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,407,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,919,008,000 after acquiring an additional 170,620 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $374,530,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.1% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,424,606 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,822,000 after purchasing an additional 81,885 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 90.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,141,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $272,663,000 after buying an additional 542,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,137,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $268,041,000 after buying an additional 12,231 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.4 %

VRSK stock opened at $272.82 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.32 and a 12 month high of $287.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $271.59 and its 200 day moving average is $252.26. The company has a market capitalization of $38.86 billion, a PE ratio of 50.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The business had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,356,444.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,356,444.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 726 shares of company stock worth $196,682. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.