Point72 Asset Management L.P. Purchases Shares of 78,884 Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 78,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,263,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 8.5% during the 4th 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. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $489,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 67,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,042,000 after acquiring an additional 2,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,293,000 after acquiring an additional 4,593 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $264.99 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $269.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $255.53. The company has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a PE ratio of 49.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 period last year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 29.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business’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 value of $88,743.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.