Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Verdence Capital Advisors LLC significantly reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics by 56.1%, now holding 1,441 shares valued at $449,000 according to its latest SEC filing.
• Insider trading activity includes Director Christopher John Perry purchasing 1,000 shares, increasing his ownership by 129.37%, while CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares, reducing her stake.
• Analysts' ratings for Verisk Analytics show a consensus target price of $306.55 and an average rating of "Moderate Buy," indicating a generally positive outlook on the stock.

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 56.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,441 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,840 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 35 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.4% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,017 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,809,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 11.4% during the second quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 341 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the second quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased 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 buying an additional 36 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $259.80 per share, for a total transaction of $259,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 1,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,625.40. The trade was a 129.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.23, for a total value of $72,669.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,865 shares in the company, valued at $3,600,748.95. The trade was a 1.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,520 shares of company stock worth $2,255,396 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRSK. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price target on Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $340.00 to $334.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $292.00 to $262.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $306.55.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK opened at $243.98 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average is $257.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.57. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $239.78 and a 1 year high of $322.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.09 billion, a PE ratio of 37.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.85.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%.The business had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is presently 27.73%.

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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