Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target Raised to $297.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) had its price target lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $280.00 to $297.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the business services provider's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $313.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK traded up $4.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $301.33. 990,293 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 747,127. The stock has a market cap of $42.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $302.25.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $526,676,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,226,000 after acquiring an additional 430,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $108,646,000 after purchasing an additional 393,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,435,012,000 after purchasing an additional 392,270 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.