China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 50.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,465 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,712 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,124,000 after buying an additional 982 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 56,860 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,661,000 after buying an additional 11,707 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total transaction of $1,630,360.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 55,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,821,985.18. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total transaction of $3,649,027.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 67,244 shares in the company, valued at $21,051,406.64. This trade represents a 14.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,825 shares of company stock worth $8,945,180. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.8%

VRSK traded down $2.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $300.51. The stock had a trading volume of 931,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 780,267. The stock's 50 day moving average is $309.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $295.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13. The company has a market capitalization of $42.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $257.59 and a one year high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 33.13% and a return on equity of 396.08%. The company's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

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.