Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target Cut to $263.00

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its price objective reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $278.00 to $263.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on VRSK. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $268.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $267.77.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $266.66 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.98 billion, a PE ratio of 49.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.84. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $215.32 and a 1-year high of $287.13. 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $376,057.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $13,066,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,237 shares of company stock worth $572,739. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,407,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,919,008,000 after acquiring an additional 170,620 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $374,530,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,502,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $405,030,000 after purchasing an additional 78,008 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 90.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,141,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $272,663,000 after purchasing an additional 542,432 shares during the period. Finally, GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,137,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $268,041,000 after purchasing an additional 12,231 shares during the period. 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.