Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Middleton & Co. Inc. MA

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lessened its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,642 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics comprises 1.6% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $13,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $264.76 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $37.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.40, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.32 and a 52 week high of $287.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $271.22 and a 200-day moving average of $254.55.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company 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.