Citigroup Inc. Has $72.83 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.2% during Q1, now holding approximately 244,708 shares valued at $72.83 million.
• Verisk Analytics recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45, scheduled for payment on September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $1.88 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a revenue increase of 7.8% year-over-year to $772.60 million.

Citigroup Inc. cut its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,708 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,878 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Verisk Analytics worth $72,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 3,175 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the first quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.2% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 389 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% during the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,170,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.0% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.88, for a total value of $91,164.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 15,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,790,668.20. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $1,630,360.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 55,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,821,985.18. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,120 shares of company stock worth $7,192,416 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $265.04 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $260.17 and a fifty-two week high of $322.92. The stock's 50-day moving average is $300.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.94. The firm has a market cap of $37.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%. 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 firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSK. UBS Group lowered their price target on 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 price target on Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.60.

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.

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