Inspire Investing LLC Sells 3,556 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Inspire Investing LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,556 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 293,655 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $70,142,000 after buying an additional 60,664 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Balentine LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $264.76 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.32 and a 1-year high of $287.13. The company has a market cap of $37.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $271.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.55.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The company had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 29.10%.

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, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total transaction of $55,476.00. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value of $55,476.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. UBS Group lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.23.

Verisk Analytics 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.