Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $299.72, but opened at $263.97. Verisk Analytics shares last traded at $288.68, with a volume of 393,763 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $313.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.33.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $40.92 billion, a PE ratio of 45.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $283.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $277.87.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total transaction of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors 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.