Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 619 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 94.8% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 346,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $82,800,000 after acquiring an additional 34,077 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 225.5% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 205,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,993,000 after acquiring an additional 142,088 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 8,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,966,000 after purchasing an additional 3,219 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $698,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,066,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,237 shares of company stock valued at $572,739. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $268.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $267.77.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded up $5.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $266.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,232,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 781,334. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $268.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.94. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.32 and a fifty-two week high of $287.13. The firm has a market cap of $37.98 billion, a PE ratio of 49.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.51 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

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.