Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) is Ycg LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Ycg LLC decreased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 197,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics comprises 4.3% of Ycg LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Ycg LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $53,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.2% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 727 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value of $55,476.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 726 shares of company stock valued at $196,682. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.54.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $271.66. The stock had a trading volume of 834,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 817,936. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.32 and a fifty-two week high of $287.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. The company has a market cap of $38.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.68, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $271.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.98.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

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.