Bowie Capital Management LLC Acquires 12,341 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Bowie Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 28.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,341 shares during the quarter. Verisk Analytics comprises about 0.9% of Bowie Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Bowie Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $14,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $374,530,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 90.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,141,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $272,663,000 after buying an additional 542,432 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,342,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,722,000 after purchasing an additional 422,002 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 178.5% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 319,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $76,278,000 after purchasing an additional 204,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 170,620 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $271.66 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $215.32 and a one year high of $287.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $271.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $252.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.68, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,356,444.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total transaction of $88,743.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total value of $52,462.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 726 shares of company stock worth $196,682. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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 increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.54.

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.