Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Boosts Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 33.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 373,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,758,000 after purchasing an additional 94,300 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 100.8% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,103,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,491,000 after acquiring an additional 85,202 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,655 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OV Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. OV Management LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,644,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value of $55,476.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $267.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.32 and a 1 year high of $287.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $271.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.03 billion, a PE ratio of 49.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.23.

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.