Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 211,452 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. significantly increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1,417.3%, owning a total of 226,371 shares valued at approximately $70.5 million.
• Verisk Analytics has received price target adjustments from various analysts, with targets ranging from $300.00 to $340.00, and currently has an average rating of "Hold."
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 27.73%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1,417.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 226,371 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 211,452 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.16% of Verisk Analytics worth $70,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth $508,611,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 631.0% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,415,439 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $422,676,000 after buying an additional 1,221,798 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 36,332.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,204,468 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $358,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,162 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 36.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,251,051 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $669,958,000 after acquiring an additional 596,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 35.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,653,727 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $492,182,000 after acquiring an additional 434,053 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. 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. UBS Group cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $340.00 to $334.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $308.09.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.72, for a total value of $76,416.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 15,165 shares in the company, valued at $3,862,828.80. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total transaction of $98,080.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,803,714.34. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,265 shares of company stock worth $4,002,332 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $1.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $243.11. The stock had a trading volume of 504,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 936,894. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $239.83 and a 52 week high of $322.92. The business's 50-day moving average price is $272.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.96 billion, a PE ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 27.73%.

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.