Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK Shares Bought by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 69.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 98 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 62.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Corp raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 88.1% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $221.88 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.26. The company has a market capitalization of $30.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.99 and a twelve month high of $322.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.55.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.42% and a return on equity of 425.42%. The firm had revenue of $768.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $776.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 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 Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 27.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. Rothschild Redb downgraded Verisk Analytics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (down from $280.00) on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $315.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $238,689.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,807 shares in the company, valued at $16,883,340.93. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory Hendrick bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $216.14 per share, for a total transaction of $108,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,536 shares in the company, valued at $548,131.04. This represents a 24.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 1,450 shares of company stock valued at $314,663 and have sold 7,420 shares valued at $1,889,171. 0.46% of the stock is 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.