Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Receives $297.40 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $297.40.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 68.9% during the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 186.7% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 66.8% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 33,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,846,000 after purchasing an additional 13,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 10,915 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,248,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK opened at $294.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics has a 52-week low of $237.09 and a 52-week high of $306.68. The firm has a market cap of $41.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $291.58 and its 200-day moving average is $285.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

About Verisk Analytics

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.