Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $297.49 Million Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 8.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,103,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,202 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $297,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $268.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,251.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.9 %

VRSK opened at $267.02 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.32 and a 1-year high of $287.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day moving average of $271.47 and a 200-day moving average of $254.47.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current 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 of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.10%.

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.