Huntington National Bank Increases Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,163 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.2% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $280.80 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $271.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.81, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $291.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.