Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 10.9%, owning 164,449 shares valued at approximately $48.94 million as of the end of Q1.
• Verisk Analytics reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.88, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $772.60 million, up 7.8% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with a payout ratio of 27.73%, to be paid on September 30th.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 10.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 164,449 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,153 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.12% of Verisk Analytics worth $48,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% during the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 186.7% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total value of $1,755,314.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. The trade was a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total value of $3,649,027.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 67,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,051,406.64. This trade represents a 14.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,825 shares of company stock valued at $8,947,730 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $6.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $271.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,544,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 983,088. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $306.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.26. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $259.22 and a 12-month high of $322.92. The stock has a market cap of $37.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.83.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.45 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 27.73%.

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.