Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $295.33.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $313.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verisk Analytics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,435,012,000 after acquiring an additional 392,270 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,691,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,292,047,000 after buying an additional 72,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,811,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,051,300,000 after buying an additional 19,423 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $526,676,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,654,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $455,789,000 after buying an additional 144,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $295.11 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.04, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $296.94. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $282.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $277.39.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

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.