Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Given New $300.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $268.00 to $300.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 10.86% from the company’s current price.

VRSK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.15.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $270.60 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $268.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $259.04. The company has a market cap of $38.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86. Verisk Analytics has a twelve month low of $215.32 and a twelve month high of $287.13.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.45 million. During the same period 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, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $34,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

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.