Torray Investment Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Torray Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $374,530,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 90.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,141,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $272,663,000 after purchasing an additional 542,432 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,342,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,722,000 after purchasing an additional 422,002 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 178.5% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 319,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $76,278,000 after purchasing an additional 204,657 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.54.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total transaction of $88,743.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value of $55,476.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 726 shares of company stock valued at $196,682 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK traded down $1.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $271.66. 834,256 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 817,936. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.32 and a fifty-two week high of $287.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $271.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.95.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS 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 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

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.