Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Holdings Lessened by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 471,964 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 80,921 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $127,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $264.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.71 billion, a PE ratio of 49.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.32 and a 1 year high of $287.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $271.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. The firm 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 for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,483.40. The transaction 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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total transaction of $55,476.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,251.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.