Principal Securities Inc. Has $2.51 Million Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 71.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,128 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,793 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,712 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,124,000 after acquiring an additional 982 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 56,860 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,661,000 after purchasing an additional 11,707 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.10, for a total value of $1,723,783.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 56,701 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,036,588.10. This represents a 8.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total transaction of $98,080.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,803,714.34. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,825 shares of company stock worth $8,945,180. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $302.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.32 billion, a PE ratio of 44.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.59 and a fifty-two week high of $322.92. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $308.84 and a 200-day moving average of $294.93.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 33.13% and a return on equity of 396.08%. Verisk Analytics's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 26.35%.

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.

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