Wedmont Private Capital Boosts Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smithfield Trust Co grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 727 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weil Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 9,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,296,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $270.32 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.32 and a 12-month high of $270.71. The company has a market capitalization of $38.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.43, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $246.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.07 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 29.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.31.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $4,356,444.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,528,824.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,746 shares of company stock valued at $2,285,415 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.