Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 362,915 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,147 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.25% of Verisk Analytics worth $85,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $374,530,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 90.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,141,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $272,663,000 after acquiring an additional 542,432 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,342,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,722,000 after acquiring an additional 422,002 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,195,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,418,000 after purchasing an additional 211,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 178.5% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 319,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $76,278,000 after purchasing an additional 204,657 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of 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 target price on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.08.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total value of $52,462.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at $11,528,824.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,265 shares of company stock valued at $774,953. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock opened at $273.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $253.88 and its 200 day moving average is $242.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.32 and a 52 week high of $273.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $704.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

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.