Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 613,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,258 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned about 0.43% of Verisk Analytics worth $165,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 224,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $60,410,000 after buying an additional 6,511 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 96,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,914,000 after purchasing an additional 16,925 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.4 %

VRSK stock opened at $264.85 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $215.32 and a twelve month high of $287.13. The stock has a market cap of $37.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.41, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $270.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.80.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,251.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VRSK. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.23.

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.