Alliancebernstein L.P. Raises Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 0.5%, owning 3.74% of the company with a position valued at approximately $1.56 billion.
• The company reported a 7.8% yearly revenue growth with an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $1.88, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• Verisk Analytics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 27.73%.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,235,090 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,010 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 3.74% of Verisk Analytics worth $1,558,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 148,900 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,316,000 after acquiring an additional 41,000 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 16,507 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,715 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,120 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 31,086 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,252,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $270.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,004,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 975,306. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.77 billion, a PE ratio of 41.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $259.01 and a twelve month high of $322.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $283.02 and a 200 day moving average of $293.90. 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 (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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 27.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $259.80 per share, for a total transaction of $259,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,625.40. The trade was a 129.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.00, for a total transaction of $80,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 15,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,144,620. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,621 shares of company stock valued at $7,574,943. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSK. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $306.91.

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.