Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Short Interest Update

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,040,000 shares, a decline of 19.0% from the August 31st total of 2,520,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 731,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $55,476.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2.9% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $264.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics has a 12-month low of $215.32 and a 12-month high of $287.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.90.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. 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 report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. 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 report on Tuesday, June 25th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.23.

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.