Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Grows Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 286,477 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,589 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $72,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 0.4% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,809,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 11.4% during the second quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in the second quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. EWA LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.6% in the second quarter. EWA LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the second quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Sabra R. Purtill purchased 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $217.95 per share, for a total transaction of $98,077.50. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 1,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $289,219.65. This represents a 51.31% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.54, for a total value of $65,862.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,738.10. The trade was a 2.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,450 shares of company stock valued at $314,663 and have sold 1,700 shares valued at $369,648. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $315.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verisk Analytics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Verisk Analytics from $334.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Verisk Analytics from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Rothschild Redb downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.64.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $220.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.55, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.99 and a 1 year high of $322.92. The company has a market cap of $30.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $220.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 425.42% and a net margin of 30.42%.The company had revenue of $768.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $776.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 27.44%.

About Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSK) is a data analytics and decision?support provider that helps organizations assess and manage risk. The company supplies data, predictive models and software to customers in insurance, reinsurance, financial services, government, energy and other commercial markets. Its offerings are designed to support underwriting, pricing, claims management, catastrophe modeling, fraud detection and regulatory compliance, enabling clients to make more informed operational and strategic decisions.

Verisk’s product portfolio combines large proprietary datasets with analytics platforms and industry?specific applications.