Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases 4,211 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1,888.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,211 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $376,057.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,066,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was 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 directly 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. Insiders sold 2,237 shares of company stock worth $572,739 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $268.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $268.29.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of VRSK stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $261.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,107,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 846,898. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.32 and a 12-month high of $287.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $268.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The business had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.10%.

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.