UBS Group Raises Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target to $285.00

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

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

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $275.09 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $259.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.41. The firm has a market cap of $39.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.32, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94. Verisk Analytics has a 12-month low of $215.32 and a 12-month high of $279.59.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.10%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $374,530,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 90.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,141,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $272,663,000 after acquiring an additional 542,432 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,342,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $320,722,000 after acquiring an additional 422,002 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 178.5% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 319,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $76,278,000 after acquiring an additional 204,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,407,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,919,008,000 after acquiring an additional 170,620 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.