KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires 11,700 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 16.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,370 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,700 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned about 0.06% of Verisk Analytics worth $24,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 3,175 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 389 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 944 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total value of $3,649,027.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 67,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,051,406.64. This represents a 14.77% 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 this hyperlink. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 12,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 28,825 shares of company stock valued at $8,947,730 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $297.96. 602,534 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 954,984. The firm has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.63, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $308.47 and a 200 day moving average of $297.12. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.59 and a 12 month 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million during 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%. The company's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 26.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on VRSK. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.

About Verisk Analytics

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.