Townsquare Capital LLC Grows Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 8.5% in Q1, raising its holdings to 19,442 shares worth approximately $5.79 million.
• Insider trading activity included Director Samuel G. Liss selling 11,656 shares for over $3.64 million, resulting in a 14.77% decrease in his ownership.
• Verisk Analytics recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, which will be issued on September 30th, reflecting a 0.7% dividend yield.

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,442 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $5,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 3,175 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the first quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.2% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 389 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% during the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.0% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 67,244 shares in the company, valued at $21,051,406.64. This trade represents a 14.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,120 shares of company stock valued at $7,192,416 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $265.04 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $300.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.94. The company has a market capitalization of $37.03 billion, a PE ratio of 40.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.83. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.17 and a 1-year high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The company's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price target on Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target 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. One research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $305.60.

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.

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