AGF Management Ltd. Has $3.09 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 23.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 94.8% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 153,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,367,000 after buying an additional 14,865 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,433 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,253,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock opened at $269.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.36 billion, a PE ratio of 50.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $271.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.76. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.32 and a fifty-two week high of $287.13.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly 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 analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,356,444.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total value of $52,462.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 726 shares of company stock worth $196,682 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $268.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of 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 investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.54.

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.