Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Insider Kathy Card Beckles Sells 2,111 Shares of Stock

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $280.06. 684,212 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 833,043. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $282.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.84. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $296.58.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued 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 of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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. Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $693,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.8% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,369,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.