ING Groep NV Has $6.72 Million Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV significantly reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics, cutting its position by 66.0% in the first quarter, leading to ownership of 22,594 shares valued at approximately $6.72 million.
• Verisk Analytics recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.88 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and marking a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.8%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, to be distributed on September 30th to shareholders recorded by September 15th.

ING Groep NV lessened its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 66.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,594 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 43,792 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 90,068 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,806,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 6.3% during the first quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 31,702 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,887 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth $201,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 57,035 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $16,975,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at about $1,705,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.88, for a total transaction of $91,164.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,765 shares in the company, valued at $4,790,668.20. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 67,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,051,406.64. The trade was a 14.77% 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 worth $8,947,730. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.60.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $264.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,038,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,117,912. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.17 and a 12 month high of $322.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34. The stock has a market cap of $36.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.76, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.83.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 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.