QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.8% during Q2, accumulating a total of 22,216 shares valued at approximately $6.92 million.
• Insider selling occurred with notable transactions, including CEO Lee Shavel selling 1,100 shares and insider Nicholas Daffan selling 5,420 shares, indicating a 9.07% decrease in Daffan's ownership.
• Verisk Analytics reported earnings of $1.88 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a year-over-year 7.8% increase in revenue, with a current market cap of $34.79 billion.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 5.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,216 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth approximately $508,611,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 631.0% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,415,439 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $422,676,000 after buying an additional 1,221,798 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 36.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,251,051 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $669,958,000 after buying an additional 596,225 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 35.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,653,727 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $492,182,000 after buying an additional 434,053 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,141,005 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $339,586,000 after buying an additional 393,668 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $1,436,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 54,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,399,305. This trade represents a 9.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.01, for a total value of $294,811.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,907 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,147,865.07. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,520 shares of company stock valued at $2,273,891 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $249.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $262.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.12. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $239.83 and a 1-year high of $322.92. The company has a market cap of $34.79 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.85.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%.The firm had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. The company'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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $340.00 to $334.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $311.00.

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.

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.