Panagora Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. significantly reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 86.6%, selling 97,885 shares and now owning only 15,170 shares valued at $4.5 million.
• Verisk Analytics reported Q2 earnings per share of $1.88, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.77, and also achieved revenue growth of 7.8% year-over-year to $772.6 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, reflecting a 0.7% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 27.73%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 86.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,170 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 97,885 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $4,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 3,175 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the first quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.2% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 389 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.3% during the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% during the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,420 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $1,436,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 54,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,399,305. This represents a 9.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the company'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 sale, the insider directly owned 9,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,803,714.34. The trade was a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,621 shares of company stock valued at $7,574,943 in the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $270.31. 1,004,964 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 975,306. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.86. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $259.01 and a 12-month high of $322.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $283.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $293.91.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price target on Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $306.91.

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.