Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp reduced its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,372 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 19.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 2.9% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 28.4% in the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weil Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 9,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,296,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $268.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.54.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of VRSK opened at $271.63 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.32 and a 52-week high of $287.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $271.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.65. The company has a market capitalization of $38.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 29.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value of $55,476.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total transaction of $55,476.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. 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 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.