Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $293.11.

Several research firms recently commented on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $282.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $39.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.09, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $296.58. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $281.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.06.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This trade represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $693,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.