Genesis Private Wealth LLC Invests $219,000 in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Genesis Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 794 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $189,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 727.9% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 21,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,874,000 after buying an additional 18,751 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,222,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,549 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,253,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $280.06 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $296.58. The stock has a market cap of $39.55 billion, a PE ratio of 43.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $282.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $274.84.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

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.