Kestra Advisory Services LLC Has $1.52 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC has reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics by 19.6%, owning 5,103 shares valued at approximately $1.52 million after selling 1,244 shares during the first quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes CFO Elizabeth Mann selling 300 shares for $80,400 and CEO Lee Shavel selling 1,100 shares for $294,811, indicating a slight decrease in ownership for both executives.
• Verisk Analytics reported a 7.8% year-over-year revenue increase with a quarterly revenue of $772.60 million and earnings per share of $1.88, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lowered 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 Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,103 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,244 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% during the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 186.7% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $269.61. The stock had a trading volume of 410,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 905,254. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $259.01 and a 52 week high of $322.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%.Verisk Analytics's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics 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 transaction of $98,080.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,319 shares in the company, valued at $2,803,714.34. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $1,436,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 54,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,399,305. This represents a 9.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,621 shares of company stock valued at $7,574,943. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price objective on Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $306.91.

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.