Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target Raised to $320.00

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its price objective upped by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $298.00 to $320.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target indicates a potential upside of 10.43% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $313.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.44.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $289.78 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $40.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.21, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $300.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $283.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $277.94.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verisk Analytics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $3,044,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 633,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $174,358,000 after purchasing an additional 7,401 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is 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.