Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Has $145.94 Million Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 60.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 541,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 203,951 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.38% of Verisk Analytics worth $145,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $801,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.7% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 613,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $165,284,000 after buying an additional 38,258 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.0% in the second 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. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 21.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 96,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,914,000 after acquiring an additional 16,925 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, 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 transaction of $88,743.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $264.85 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.32 and a 52-week high of $287.13. The stock has a market cap of $37.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.41, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $270.78 and its 200-day moving average is $254.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.