Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 109,968 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. by 59.6%, now owning approximately 74,560 shares worth $22.18 million.
• Several hedge funds have altered their positions in Verisk Analytics, with Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increasing its stake by 225.2%.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Hold" for Verisk Analytics, with an average target price of $306.91.

Acadian Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 59.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,560 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 109,968 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.05% of Verisk Analytics worth $22,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its position in 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 during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 186.7% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on VRSK shares. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. 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. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $306.91.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $4.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $262.20. 895,490 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 933,841. The company has a 50 day moving average of $279.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.93. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $259.01 and a fifty-two 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 $36.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. Verisk Analytics's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $98,080.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,803,714.34. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.01, for a total transaction of $294,811.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,147,865.07. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,965 shares of company stock worth $3,925,916 in the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.