Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target Increased to $285.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its target price boosted by UBS Group from $255.00 to $285.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on VRSK. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $257.21.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK opened at $277.38 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics has a 1 year low of $215.32 and a 1 year high of $279.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $260.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $39.58 billion, a PE ratio of 51.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.84.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The business had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 29.10%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total transaction of $88,743.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $376,057.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $13,066,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,037 shares of company stock valued at $517,263. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRSK. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 19.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 727 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 2.9% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 28.4% in the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.