Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $297.40.
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays downgraded 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company.
Read Our Latest Research Report on VRSK
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,628,433. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.
Verisk Analytics Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $6.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $291.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 835,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 781,406. The firm has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $306.68. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $292.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $283.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.
About Verisk Analytics
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Get Free ReportVerisk 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.
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