Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Receives $308.09 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $311.00.

VRSK has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $340.00 to $334.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $249.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $262.88 and a 200-day moving average of $288.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market cap of $34.79 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.85. Verisk Analytics has a 52-week low of $239.83 and a 52-week high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. Verisk Analytics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $1,436,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 54,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,399,305. This trade represents a 9.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher John Perry bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $259.80 per share, for a total transaction of $259,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 1,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,625.40. This trade represents a 129.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,520 shares of company stock valued at $2,273,891 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,137 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 880.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 490 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 293,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,443,000 after purchasing an additional 7,972 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.