Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $275.23.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. Barclays boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.5 %

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $265.96 on Friday. Verisk Analytics has a 52 week low of $215.32 and a 52 week high of $287.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.62, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.63.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,483.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total transaction of $55,476.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verisk Analytics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 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.