Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Purchased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $9,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $265.27 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $270.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $255.26. The firm has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.49, 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The sale 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 Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value 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 approximately $4,551,251.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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 research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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 restated an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.