NorthRock Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

NorthRock Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $374,530,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 90.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,141,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $272,663,000 after purchasing an additional 542,432 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,342,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,722,000 after purchasing an additional 422,002 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 178.5% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 319,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $76,278,000 after purchasing an additional 204,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $257.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $376,057.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $13,066,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,037 shares of company stock worth $517,263 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $277.50. 812,413 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 847,297. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94. The stock has a market cap of $39.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.77, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $261.36 and its 200-day moving average is $245.09. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.32 and a 52 week high of $280.22.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The business had revenue of $704.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.07 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 29.10%.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.