Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Bought by Ninety One SA PTY Ltd

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 405.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,178 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 20,201 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics comprises 1.4% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 225.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 14,919 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,440,000 after buying an additional 10,331 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth $237,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 21.9% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 77,807 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $23,157,000 after purchasing an additional 13,995 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 1.8%

Verisk Analytics stock traded down $5.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $302.54. The stock had a trading volume of 998,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,944. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.59 and a twelve month high of $322.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.32 billion, a PE ratio of 44.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.86. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $308.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.87.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total transaction of $1,630,360.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 55,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,821,985.18. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77% 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 $8,945,180 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.