Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) PT Raised to $285.00

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its target price increased by Robert W. Baird from $268.00 to $285.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $267.77.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $266.66 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $37.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.75, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $268.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Verisk Analytics has a 12 month low of $215.32 and a 12 month high of $287.13.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 29.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $376,057.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,066,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $376,057.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,066,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total value of $52,462.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,356,444.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,237 shares of company stock valued at $572,739 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at $34,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.