Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 44,787 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 55.6%, owning 125,355 shares worth approximately $37.29 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Verisk Analytics recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.88 per share, exceeding estimates and showing a 7.8% increase in revenue year-over-year to $772.60 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with a 0.7% yield and a payout ratio of 27.73%, set to be paid on September 30th.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 55.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,355 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 44,787 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Verisk Analytics worth $37,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 186.7% in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on VRSK. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.60.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the firm'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 value of $1,630,360.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 55,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,821,985.18. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $259.80 per share, for a total transaction of $259,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,625.40. This trade represents a 129.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,620 shares of company stock worth $7,862,427. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded up $4.4150 on Tuesday, reaching $270.1050. 265,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 901,264. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $259.01 and a fifty-two week high of $322.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $294.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $296.30.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $767.91 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.73%.

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.