2,045 Shares in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Purchased by Financial Harvest LLC

Financial Harvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,045 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $625,000. Verisk Analytics comprises 0.4% of Financial Harvest LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% during the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $98,080.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,803,714.34. This represents a 3.38% 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, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total value of $1,755,314.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. This represents a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,825 shares of company stock worth $8,947,730. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $301.90. 1,530,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 780,053. The firm's 50-day moving average is $309.16 and its 200-day moving average is $296.34. The stock has a market cap of $42.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.59 and a 1-year high of $322.92.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.