Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Grows Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 906 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $264.85 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.32 and a 12 month high of $287.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. The stock has a market cap of $37.72 billion, a PE ratio of 49.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $270.78 and its 200 day moving average is $254.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 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%.

About Verisk Analytics

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.