Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 36.0% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 596,225 shares, bringing their total ownership to around 1.61% valued at approximately $669.96 million.
• Verisk Analytics recently announced a dividend of $0.45 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, scheduled for payment on September 30th.
• In Q2, Verisk Analytics reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.88, surpassing expectations and reflecting a 7.8% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 36.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,251,051 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 596,225 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.61% of Verisk Analytics worth $669,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 186.7% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $265.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.03 billion, a PE ratio of 40.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $300.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.94. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.17 and a 12 month high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%. Verisk Analytics's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.45 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $3,649,027.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 67,244 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $1,630,360.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 55,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,821,985.18. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,120 shares of company stock worth $7,192,416. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSK. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley raised 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, 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. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $305.60.

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.

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