TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Acquires 49,548 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 400,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,548 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics makes up approximately 1.4% of TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $94,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $376,057.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the 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 transaction, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 2,037 shares of company stock worth $517,263 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $2.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $277.38. 531,168 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 647,491. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $260.65 and its 200-day moving average is $244.70. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.32 and a 12-month high of $279.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The business had revenue of $704.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 29.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $257.21.

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.