Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

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

VRSK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 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 that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. The trade was a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,490 shares of company stock worth $1,541,570 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 101.5% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth approximately $79,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.3 %

VRSK stock opened at $279.35 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $39.45 billion, a PE ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $274.88. Verisk Analytics has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $296.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

About Verisk Analytics

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.