Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 48.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 727 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock traded up $5.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $266.66. 1,232,962 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 781,334. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $249.03. The firm has a market cap of $37.98 billion, a PE ratio of 49.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.32 and a 1-year high of $287.13.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $376,057.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,066,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,237 shares of company stock valued at $572,739 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $267.77.

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.