Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $298.90.

Several research firms have commented on VRSK. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $309.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $292.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.68. 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 1 year low of $244.99 and a 1 year high of $312.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total transaction of $1,755,314.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,456.16. This trade represents a 30.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 61,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 105,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,011,000 after purchasing an additional 42,883 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 41,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $2,957,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

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.