Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK Stake Lifted by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 223.8% in Q2, holding 5,324 shares valued at approximately $1.66 million.
• Verisk Analytics reported a Q2 EPS of $1.88, exceeding estimates by $0.11, with a net margin of 30.67% and year-over-year revenue growth of 7.8%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.80 and a yield of 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 27.73%.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 223.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,324 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,680 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 186.7% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRSK. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $340.00 to $334.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $308.09.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $242.30 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $271.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34. The firm has a market cap of $33.85 billion, a PE ratio of 37.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $239.83 and a 12 month high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The firm 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 firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The company's quarterly 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. Equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 27.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.01, for a total value of $294,811.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,147,865.07. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 9,319 shares in the company, valued at $2,803,714.34. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,265 shares of company stock valued at $4,002,332 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VRSK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.