Flossbach Von Storch SE Reduces Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Flossbach Von Storch SE cut its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 19.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 229,669 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 55,876 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE owned about 0.16% of Verisk Analytics worth $68,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the first quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 389 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 944 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the business's 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 represents a 14.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $1,630,360.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $16,821,985.18. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 28,825 shares of company stock valued at $8,945,180. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. 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. 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 investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $1.18 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $303.72. 804,530 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 778,945. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.48 billion, a PE ratio of 44.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.59 and a 12-month high of $322.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $308.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $294.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.