Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,713 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $374,530,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 542,432 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,342,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,722,000 after purchasing an additional 422,002 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 178.5% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 319,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $76,278,000 after purchasing an additional 204,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 170,620 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $271.63 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $271.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.68, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $215.32 and a one year high of $287.13.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRSK. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $268.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.