Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Trims Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics by 42.3% during the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 2,262 shares valued at $673,000.
• Verisk Analytics reported earnings of $1.88 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $772.60 million, reflecting a 7.8% year-over-year growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, payable on September 30th, with a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 42.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,262 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,659 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth $508,611,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 36,332.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,204,468 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $358,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201,162 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,251,051 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $669,958,000 after purchasing an additional 596,225 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,141,005 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $339,586,000 after purchasing an additional 393,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $70,005,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.1%

VRSK opened at $270.85 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.95. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $259.01 and a 52 week high of $322.92. The company has a market capitalization of $37.84 billion, a PE ratio of 41.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The business had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 27.73%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $98,080.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,803,714.34. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.10, for a total transaction of $1,723,783.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 56,701 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,036,588.10. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,620 shares of company stock worth $7,862,427 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price target on Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.60.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.