Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Key Points

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Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $317.00 to $319.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the business services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.73% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on VRSK. UBS Group cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $275.65. The company had a trading volume of 735,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,840. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $306.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Verisk Analytics has a one year low of $257.59 and a one year high of $322.92. The company has a market capitalization of $38.56 billion, a PE ratio of 40.40, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 396.08% and a net margin of 33.13%. The firm had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $1,630,360.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 55,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,821,985.18. The trade was a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.88, for a total transaction of $91,164.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,790,668.20. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,825 shares of company stock valued at $8,947,730. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 3,175 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,017 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,809,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 341 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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