Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Insider Kathy Card Beckles Sells 2,111 Shares

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of VRSK opened at $280.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $282.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.84. 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 company has a market capitalization of $39.55 billion, a PE ratio of 43.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $296.58.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,000. 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.