Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Acquires 1,511 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 56.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,190 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $60,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 67,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,051,406.64. This represents a 14.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total transaction of $1,755,314.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,937 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,456.16. This trade represents a 30.60% 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. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock traded up $1.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $297.96. The company had a trading volume of 602,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 858,265. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $308.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $296.83. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $257.59 and a one year high of $322.92.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. 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.