Ascent Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. by 38.2% during the first quarter, owning a total of 3,568 shares valued at approximately $1,062,000.
• CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of Verisk Analytics for about $294,811, reducing his holdings to 78,907 shares, while CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares for approximately $80,400.
• Verisk Analytics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with a yield of 0.7%, to be paid on September 30th to shareholders of record by September 15th.

Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 38.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,568 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 186.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $306.91.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.00, for a total transaction of $80,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,144,620. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,420 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $1,436,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 54,337 shares in the company, valued at $14,399,305. The trade was a 9.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,965 shares of company stock worth $3,925,916. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK traded down $4.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $262.20. The stock had a trading volume of 895,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 936,080. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.40, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50-day moving average price is $279.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.93. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $259.01 and a twelve month high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is presently 27.73%.

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.