Evercore ISI Raises Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target to $260.00

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its target price lifted by Evercore ISI from $250.00 to $260.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $255.08.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $270.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $249.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $241.75. Verisk Analytics has a 52 week low of $215.32 and a 52 week high of $273.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.64 billion, a PE ratio of 50.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.83.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The firm had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total value of $52,462.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,356,444.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $376,057.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,265 shares of company stock valued at $774,953. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.