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

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

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.9% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 28.4% in the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weil Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 9,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,296,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $267.02 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $271.47 and its 200-day moving average is $254.47. The company has a market cap of $38.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.32 and a 12 month high of $287.13.

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 company had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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 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 dividend yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.10%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $268.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.23.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.