Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $285.80.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $289.05 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $276.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a market cap of $40.82 billion, a PE ratio of 45.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $296.58.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $286,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,517,157.87. This trade represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $57,298.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,471,535.92. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.3% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 5,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth $2,927,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,446,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.