Point72 Asset Management L.P. Invests $21.26 Million in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 78,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,263,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now 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 this hyperlink. In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now 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 this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value of $55,476.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $264.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $37.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $269.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.04. 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 data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRSK. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.23.

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.