Swedbank AB Increases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.7% in the second quarter, bringing its total to approximately 110,658 shares valued at $34.47 million.
• Verisk Analytics reported earnings of $1.88 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 7.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, which will be paid out on September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,658 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,866 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.08% of Verisk Analytics worth $34,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 966.7% during 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 last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 186.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.01, for a total transaction of $294,811.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,907 shares in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,265 shares of company stock worth $4,002,332. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $340.00 to $334.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $308.09.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $3.38 on Tuesday, hitting $240.80. 195,155 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 935,307. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $272.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.84. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $239.83 and a 1-year high of $322.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

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.