Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Fayez Sarofim & Co

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co reduced its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2.1%, holding 562,083 shares valued at approximately $167.3 million after selling 12,149 shares in the first quarter.
• Verisk Analytics reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.88, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.77 and marking a 7.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, scheduled for payment on September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Fayez Sarofim & Co lessened its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 562,083 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 12,149 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned 0.40% of Verisk Analytics worth $167,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,733,589 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,980,251,000 after acquiring an additional 239,483 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,654,826 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $455,789,000 after buying an additional 144,599 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,639,719 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $451,628,000 after purchasing an additional 197,413 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,537,613 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $457,624,000 after buying an additional 70,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,421,008 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $391,389,000 after buying an additional 4,069 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 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 in the company, valued at $21,051,406.64. This represents a 14.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 owned 55,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,821,985.18. The trade was a 8.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,825 shares of company stock valued at $8,947,730. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $264.98 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $260.17 and a one year high of $322.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $302.44 and a 200-day moving average of $297.02. The company has a market capitalization of $37.02 billion, a PE ratio of 40.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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 issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 target price on Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America began 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. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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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