USS Investment Management Ltd Has $239.58 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd reports a 0.5% reduction in its holdings of Verisk Analytics, Inc., retaining a total of 805,179 shares, making it the company's 9th largest position in their portfolio.
• Verisk Analytics has seen its stock price target adjusted by various analysts, with UBS Group lowering its target from $320.00 to $300.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45, equating to an annual yield of 0.7%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 15th.

USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 805,179 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,850 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics makes up about 1.8% of USS Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. USS Investment Management Ltd owned approximately 0.58% of Verisk Analytics worth $239,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 239,483 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.5% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,235,090 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,558,067,000 after purchasing an additional 25,010 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 36.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,251,051 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $669,958,000 after purchasing an additional 596,225 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth $508,611,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 19.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,704,246 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $507,219,000 after purchasing an additional 283,238 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on VRSK. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $306.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the firm's 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total transaction of $98,080.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,803,714.34. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,621 shares of company stock valued at $7,574,943 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of VRSK stock traded down $4.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $268.66. 902,688 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 975,781. The business has a 50 day moving average of $281.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $293.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $259.01 and a 52 week high of $322.92. The company has a market capitalization of $37.53 billion, a PE ratio of 41.40, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. 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 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.