Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Holdings Decreased by Gulf International Bank UK Ltd

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 25.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,869 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth about $667,000. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 220,921 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $65,751,000 after purchasing an additional 16,282 shares during the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 47,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 55.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 125,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,294,000 after purchasing an additional 44,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 17,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,272,000 after purchasing an additional 6,927 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $267.70 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $259.01 and a 52 week high of $322.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34. The stock has a market cap of $37.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $296.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.39.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The firm had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 27.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRSK. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $305.60.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.10, for a total value of $1,723,783.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 56,701 shares in the company, valued at $18,036,588.10. This trade represents a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total transaction of $3,649,027.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 67,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,051,406.64. This trade represents a 14.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,120 shares of company stock worth $7,192,416 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Verisk Analytics

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.