PGGM Investments Has $9.03 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

PGGM Investments raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 479 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $9,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 94.8% during the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 346,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $82,800,000 after buying an additional 34,077 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 225.5% in the fourth 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. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 8,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after acquiring an additional 3,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $698,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,251.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 726 shares of company stock worth $196,682 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $2.26 on Thursday, reaching $266.33. 110,184 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 836,395. The stock has a market cap of $37.93 billion, a PE ratio of 50.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 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 0.95. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.32 and a 12 month high of $287.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $270.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.17.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.54.

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.