Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target Raised to $276.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $263.00 to $276.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.08.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.3 %

VRSK traded up $0.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $275.48. 1,047,078 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 609,307. Verisk Analytics has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $287.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 42.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $269.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $262.24.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.