Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Acquires 203,951 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 541,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 203,951 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $145,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,407,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,919,008,000 after acquiring an additional 170,620 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.5% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,502,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $405,030,000 after purchasing an additional 78,008 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,137,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $268,041,000 after purchasing an additional 12,231 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 8.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,103,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,491,000 after buying an additional 85,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 690,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $164,819,000 after buying an additional 137,706 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 value of $88,743.72. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’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 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. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $264.85 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.32 and a twelve month 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 company has a market capitalization of $37.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.41, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

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.