Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $305.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

VRSK has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $273.54.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $266.14 on Monday. Verisk Analytics has a 52-week low of $215.32 and a 52-week high of $287.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.90 billion, a PE ratio of 49.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $270.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.28.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,356,444.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.31, for a total transaction of $52,462.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,356,444.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total transaction of $88,743.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 726 shares of company stock worth $196,682. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 9,061.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,390,000 after purchasing an additional 26,460 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 115.2% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,355,000 after purchasing an additional 3,082 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 920 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 4,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. 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.