Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,894,802 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 161,213 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.09% of Verisk Analytics worth $5,262,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 10.2% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 754 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 71,106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,150,000 after acquiring an additional 2,184 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 43.4% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,531,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $224.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $235.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $273.62. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.99 and a 52 week high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $768.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $776.04 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.42% and a return on equity of 425.42%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $238,689.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 77,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,883,340.93. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregory Hendrick purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $216.14 per share, for a total transaction of $108,070.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $548,131.04. The trade was a 24.56% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 1,450 shares of company stock worth $314,663 and have sold 7,420 shares worth $1,889,171. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Rothschild Redb downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $315.00 to $239.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $282.14.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.