Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK Shares Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 53.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 347,818 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 121,447 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.25% of Verisk Analytics worth $87,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 303,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,076,000 after purchasing an additional 58,954 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $366,000. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 113,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,074,000 after buying an additional 6,739 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,860,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 14.9% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 12,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,787,000 after buying an additional 1,574 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $314.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $310.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $334.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.64.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $219.17 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.99 and a 1 year high of $322.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $223.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.25. The company has a market cap of $30.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.41, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.55, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $768.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $776.04 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.42% and a return on equity of 425.42%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.44%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Sabra R. Purtill acquired 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $217.95 per share, for a total transaction of $98,077.50. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,327 shares in the company, valued at $289,219.65. This trade represents a 51.31% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $238,689.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,807 shares in the company, valued at $16,883,340.93. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 1,450 shares of company stock valued at $314,663 and have sold 2,000 shares valued at $442,317. 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.