Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $289.80.

A number of analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction of $54,266.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total transaction of $286,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,517,157.87. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth $50,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.4 %

VRSK opened at $277.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.26, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $281.26 and its 200-day moving average is $274.07. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $296.58.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors 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 yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.