Analysts Set Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Target Price at $302.40

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $302.40.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $314.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,204,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 760,100. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics has a 12-month low of $251.59 and a 12-month high of $317.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.46.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.