Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,472 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 528 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $8,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $284,000. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $580,000. Benin Management CORP purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $542,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at $313,000. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at $2,290,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.54.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $268.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $38.19 billion, a PE ratio of 50.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $271.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.32 and a 52-week high of $287.13.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, 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 value of $88,743.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total value of $52,462.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,356,444.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 726 shares of company stock valued at $196,682. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.