Novem Group Boosts Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Novem Group grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 32.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,953 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Novem Group's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the first quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.2% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 389 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.4% during the fourth 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 boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.1% during the first 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $2.75 during trading on Thursday, reaching $303.96. The company had a trading volume of 963,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 775,491. The company's fifty day moving average price is $307.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.07. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.59 and a 12 month high of $322.92. The stock has a market cap of $42.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.62, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,259 shares of company stock valued at $7,553,769. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.