Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Bought by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 22.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $4,551,251.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,251.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK opened at $267.96 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $269.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.29. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.32 and a 12-month 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 firm has a market cap of $38.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.99, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group increased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.