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

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $295.33.

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

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VRSK opened at $295.11 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $282.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.39. Verisk Analytics has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $296.94. The stock has a market cap of $41.67 billion, a PE ratio of 46.04, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.