Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target Raised to $260.00

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $243.00 to $260.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on VRSK. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $268.29.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $266.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 0.95. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $268.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.86. Verisk Analytics has a fifty-two week low of $215.32 and a fifty-two week high of $287.13. The company has a market cap of $37.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.75, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.84.

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. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given 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 payout ratio is 29.10%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related 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 value of $376,057.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total transaction of $88,743.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $376,057.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,237 shares of company stock valued at $572,739 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 727 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.