Brokerages Set Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target at $273.54

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $273.54.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 726 shares of company stock worth $196,682 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake 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 last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 727 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $272.82 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $271.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.80. The company has a market capitalization of $38.92 billion, a PE ratio of 50.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.84. Verisk Analytics has a twelve month low of $215.32 and a twelve month high of $287.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

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.