Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 115 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 966.7% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 186.7% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $297.96 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.59 and a twelve month high of $322.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13. The company has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a PE ratio of 43.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $308.47 and its 200 day moving average is $297.12.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 33.13% and a return on equity of 396.08%. The business had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total transaction of $98,080.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,803,714.34. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $1,630,360.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,821,985.18. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,825 shares of company stock worth $8,947,730. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.40.

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.