Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK)?

At the moment, there are a multitude of indicators investors can use to track publicly traded companies. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outpace the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as useful, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the stock market universe. There are lots of reasons for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s discuss the latest info for Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK).

How have hedgies been trading Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)?

In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 27 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -4% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

According to our 13F database, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the largest position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK), worth close to $157.7 million, comprising 0.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global, with a $137.6 million position; 0.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Panayotis Sparaggis’s Alkeon Capital Management, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management.

As Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the top-tier hedge fund industry, we can see that there was a specific group of funds that elected to cut their full holdings heading into Q2. At the top of the heap, David Blood and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management dumped the largest stake of all the hedgies we monitor, valued at about $40.8 million in stock. Thomas A. Giovine’s fund, Giovine Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $5.5 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds heading into Q2.

How are insiders trading Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK). These stocks are FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT), Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO), Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV), and Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS). This group of stocks are the members of the business services industry and their market caps match VRSK’s market cap.