Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target Increased to $285.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $255.00 to $285.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

VRSK has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $257.21.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $277.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $260.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $244.70. The stock has a market cap of $39.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.75, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.84. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $215.32 and a 1-year high of $279.75.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $704.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.07 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 268.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 29.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,356,444.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,037 shares of company stock worth $517,263 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth about $28,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.