Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Holdings Lessened by Trillium Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Trillium Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.6% in Q1, now owning approximately $26.78 million worth of the stock.
• Verisk Analytics recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.
• Research analysts' ratings for Verisk Analytics vary, with one sell rating, five hold ratings, and four buy ratings, while the average price target is currently set at $305.60.

Trillium Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,985 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,408 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC owned 0.06% of Verisk Analytics worth $26,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSK. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth about $508,611,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 36,332.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,204,468 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $358,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201,162 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 36.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,251,051 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $669,958,000 after acquiring an additional 596,225 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 52.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,141,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $339,586,000 after acquiring an additional 393,668 shares during the period. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,005,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VRSK. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 target price on Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total transaction of $1,630,360.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 55,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,821,985.18. The trade was a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher John Perry bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $259.80 per share, for a total transaction of $259,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,625.40. This represents a 129.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,120 shares of company stock valued at $7,192,416 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK traded up $3.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $267.70. 1,452,951 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 904,296. The business's 50-day moving average price is $297.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $259.01 and a 12 month high of $322.92.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%. The company had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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