Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 162,114 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 97,709 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Verisk Analytics worth $43,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $273.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.98, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.86. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.32. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.32 and a 52 week high of $287.13.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total value of $52,462.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,356,444.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total transaction of $88,743.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 726 shares of company stock valued at $196,682 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.