Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $299.33.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 188.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,454,000 after acquiring an additional 16,742 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 899.1% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 10,726 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 479.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,516,000 after purchasing an additional 13,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 35,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,622,000 after buying an additional 4,767 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $288.93 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $288.62 and a 200-day moving average of $280.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.53 billion, a PE ratio of 45.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $306.10.

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 the consensus estimate 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%. Analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.87%.

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.