Quantbot Technologies LP Increases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 214.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,619 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,071 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $4,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,407,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,919,008,000 after purchasing an additional 170,620 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $374,530,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,342,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,722,000 after buying an additional 422,002 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 90.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,141,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $272,663,000 after buying an additional 542,432 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 985,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $235,463,000 after acquiring an additional 80,146 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded up $2.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $277.38. The company had a trading volume of 515,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 847,560. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $259.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.41. The company has a market cap of $39.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.84. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.32 and a twelve month high of $279.75.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 268.19%. The company had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total value of $52,462.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total value of $52,462.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,037 shares of company stock worth $517,263. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.