Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Given New $276.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its price objective raised by BMO Capital Markets from $263.00 to $276.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $277.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $39.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.18. Verisk Analytics has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $287.13.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 0.00 % 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. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 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.