Ethic Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 13.7% during Q1, owning 24,399 shares worth approximately $7.29 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Verisk Analytics reported a net margin of 30.67% and earnings per share of $1.88 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45, set to be paid on September 30th, with an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Ethic Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 13.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,399 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,945 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 225.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 14,919 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,440,000 after buying an additional 10,331 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 77,807 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $23,157,000 after purchasing an additional 13,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 88.4% in the 1st quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK traded up $2.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $273.10. 552,914 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 904,102. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $259.01 and a 1 year high of $322.92. 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 $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.83. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $293.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $296.12.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $767.91 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher John Perry bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $259.80 per share, with a total value of $259,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,773 shares in the company, valued at $460,625.40. This trade represents a 129.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.10, for a total transaction of $1,723,783.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 56,701 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,036,588.10. This trade represents a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,620 shares of company stock worth $7,862,427. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.