Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) PT Raised to $241.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its price objective boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $238.00 to $241.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered Verisk Analytics from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI restated an in-line rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $237.33 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $231.42 and its 200 day moving average is $235.95. The stock has a market cap of $33.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.79. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $205.70 and a 1-year high of $251.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 268.19%. The firm had revenue of $704.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total value of $375,619.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $374,530,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 90.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,141,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $272,663,000 after buying an additional 542,432 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,342,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,722,000 after buying an additional 422,002 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,523,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,777,279,000 after acquiring an additional 392,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 21.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,195,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $282,418,000 after acquiring an additional 211,032 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by 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.