Point72 Hong Kong Ltd Sells 9,340 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Point72 Hong Kong Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 76.2% 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 2,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,340 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSK. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 28.4% during the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total transaction of $55,476.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ VRSK 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $269.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $255.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.44, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $716.80 million for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRSK. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.