Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $299.72, but opened at $263.97. Verisk Analytics shares last traded at $288.68, with a volume of 393,763 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $313.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.33.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 3.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $40.92 billion, a PE ratio of 45.14, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $283.36 and its 200 day moving average is $277.87.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 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.