S Bank Fund Management Ltd Purchases Shares of 2,241 Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd has invested $667,000 in Verisk Analytics, acquiring 2,241 shares of the company.
• Verisk Analytics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.7%.
• The company reported Q2 earnings of $1.88 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue of $772.60 million, up 7.8% from the previous year.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,241 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $667,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% in the 1st 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 bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on 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 reduced their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price objective on Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $305.60.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $3.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $267.70. 1,452,951 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,204,955. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $259.01 and a 52-week high of $322.92. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $296.12 and a 200-day moving average of $296.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.83.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors 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 yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 27.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total transaction of $3,649,027.36. Following the sale, the director owned 67,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,051,406.64. This represents a 14.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $98,080.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,319 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 23,120 shares of company stock worth $7,192,416 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.