Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Invests $1.47 Million in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,921 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,465,000. Verisk Analytics makes up about 1.5% of Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,718 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 11,573 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,444,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares during the last quarter. CFC Planning Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth $580,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,776 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,398,000 after buying an additional 3,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 60.8% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $302.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13. The company has a market capitalization of $42.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.35, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's 50 day moving average is $309.16 and its 200 day moving average is $295.17. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.59 and a twelve month high of $322.92.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $98,080.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,803,714.34. The trade was a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total value of $3,649,027.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 67,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,051,406.64. The trade was a 14.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,825 shares of company stock valued at $8,945,180 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. 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 note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.40.

About Verisk Analytics

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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