Eastern Bank Makes New Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 52,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,108,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth approximately $11,582,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.2% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. SMI Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,893,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 25.8% during the first quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 7,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $0.96 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $267.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 140,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,116. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $215.32 and a one year high of $287.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $268.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $260.03.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 presently 29.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.67.

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.