Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 10.3% in Q1, owning approximately $28.12 million worth of stock, which is about 1.0% of its investment portfolio.
• Verisk Analytics reported a 7.8% year-over-year revenue increase to $772.60 million and earnings per share of $1.88, exceeding analysts' estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, reflecting a 0.7% yield and a 27.73% payout ratio.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,480 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,851 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics accounts for about 1.0% of Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Verisk Analytics worth $28,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $564,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,737 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,508,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 18,846 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,191,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $608,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 35,325 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,730,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased 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. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $305.60.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of VRSK stock traded up $3.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $267.70. 1,452,951 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,204,955. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $259.01 and a fifty-two week high of $322.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $37.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.83. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $296.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $296.39.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The business had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. 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 (DPR) is presently 27.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.88, for a total value of $91,164.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 15,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,790,668.20. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christopher John Perry acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $259.80 per share, with a total value of $259,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 three months, insiders have sold 23,120 shares of company stock valued at $7,192,416. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.