Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 23.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 225.5% in the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 205,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,993,000 after purchasing an additional 142,088 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 64.2% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 8,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after buying an additional 3,219 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $698,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,407,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,919,008,000 after buying an additional 170,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 362,915 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $85,550,000 after buying an additional 4,147 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $270.78 and its 200-day moving average is $254.80. The stock has a market cap of $37.72 billion, a PE ratio of 49.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.32 and a twelve month high of $287.13.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $55,476.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.