Ground Swell Capital LLC Has $608,000 Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Ground Swell Capital LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 80.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics comprises about 0.5% of Ground Swell Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Ground Swell Capital LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at $34,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.54.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $273.60 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.32 and a 1-year high of $287.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.04, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $271.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $253.53.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 29.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 726 shares of company stock valued at $196,682 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.