Akre Capital Management LLC Sells 1,162 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Akre Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics by 10.3%, now holding 10,139 shares worth approximately $3 million, making it the firm's 17th largest holding.
• Insider trading activity includes Director Samuel G. Liss selling 11,656 shares for over $3.6 million, and CFO Elizabeth Mann selling 300 shares, reflecting a general trend of executives reducing their holdings.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Verisk Analytics, with price targets ranging from $300 to $335 and an average rating of "Hold", while the company recently reported quarterly earnings exceeding expectations with a net margin of 30.67%.

Akre Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,139 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,162 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics comprises about 0.0% of Akre Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Akre Capital Management LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $508,611,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 36,332.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,204,468 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $358,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201,162 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 36.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,251,051 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $669,958,000 after purchasing an additional 596,225 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,141,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $339,586,000 after purchasing an additional 393,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $70,005,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.0%

Verisk Analytics stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $270.92. 881,112 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 904,348. 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 $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.83. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $259.01 and a 1-year high of $322.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $293.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $296.12.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) 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. The firm had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a 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 Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total transaction of $98,080.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,803,714.34. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher John Perry bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $259.80 per share, for a total transaction of $259,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,625.40. The trade was a 129.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,620 shares of company stock valued at $7,862,427. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRSK. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 target price on Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.60.

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.