Nomura Holdings Inc. Sells 6,902 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Nomura Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics by 39.5%, owning 10,586 shares after selling 6,902 shares, with a value of approximately $3.15 million at the end of the last quarter.
• Verisk Analytics reported a 7.8% year-over-year increase in revenue, achieving $772.60 million and an EPS of $1.88 for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Verisk Analytics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, effective September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 0.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 27.73%.

Nomura Holdings Inc. lowered its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 39.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,586 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,902 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC increased 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 buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 186.7% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on VRSK. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $306.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.01, for a total transaction of $294,811.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 78,907 shares in the company, valued at $21,147,865.07. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,803,714.34. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,621 shares of company stock valued at $7,574,943 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $270.31. 1,004,964 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 910,220. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock's fifty day moving average is $283.79 and its 200 day moving average is $294.07. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $259.01 and a 1-year high of $322.92. The stock has a market cap of $37.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 27.73%.

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.