Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $9,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $265.27 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $215.32 and a one year high of $287.13. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $270.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $255.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.49, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The firm had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors 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 yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 29.10%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $268.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s 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.