Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has acquired 5,730 shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc., valued at approximately $1,705,000, during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Verisk, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its holdings by 36,332.8%, now owning over 1.2 million shares.
• Verisk Analytics recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45, which represents an annualized yield of 0.7% and will be paid to investors of record on September 15th.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,730 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,705,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% in the first 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 acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 186.7% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.60.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $3.89 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $268.00. 1,527,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,060,289. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $259.22 and a 1 year high of $322.92. The stock's fifty day moving average is $305.41 and its 200 day moving average is $297.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a PE ratio of 41.29, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.83.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.88, for a total transaction of $91,164.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 15,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,790,668.20. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $1,630,360.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $16,821,985.18. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,825 shares of company stock valued at $8,947,730. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.