Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Stephens Investment Management Group LLC has reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 17.9%, now owning 269,888 shares valued at approximately $84 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Verisk Analytics, with Ameriprise Financial Inc. raising its position by 631% during the first quarter.
• Verisk Analytics' stock has a current market capitalization of $33.12 billion, with a 12-month price range between $228.09 and $322.92.

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 17.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 269,888 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 58,748 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics comprises approximately 1.1% of Stephens Investment Management Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Verisk Analytics worth $84,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $508,611,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 631.0% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,415,439 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $422,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221,798 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,251,051 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $669,958,000 after purchasing an additional 596,225 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 35.6% in the 1st 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 valued at $492,182,000 after purchasing an additional 434,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 52.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,141,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $339,586,000 after purchasing an additional 393,668 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. 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, Seaport Res Ptn raised Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $237.03 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $255.14 and a 200 day moving average of $283.72. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $228.09 and a 12 month high of $322.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%.Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.23, for a total transaction of $72,669.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,865 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,600,748.95. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher John Perry bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $259.80 per share, for a total transaction of $259,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,625.40. This represents a 129.37% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,520 shares of company stock worth $2,255,396. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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