Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Rating Reiterated by Royal Bank of Canada

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK – Get Rating)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $210.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 16.11% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $181.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Raymond James increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $191.00 to $188.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Verisk Analytics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.09.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $180.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $180.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.61. The company has a market cap of $27.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. Verisk Analytics has a fifty-two week low of $156.05 and a fifty-two week high of $222.11.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The business services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.26. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 32.92%. The business had revenue of $630.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $615.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christopher M. Foskett sold 6,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $1,211,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,658,860. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director David B. Wright sold 4,912 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.37, for a total value of $895,801.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,718,954.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher M. Foskett sold 6,733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $1,211,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,658,860. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,752 shares of company stock worth $2,127,210. Corporate insiders own 1.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 248.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,765,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $664,346,000 after buying an additional 2,684,234 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $268,659,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 13.8% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,663,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $980,327,000 after acquiring an additional 686,034 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 23.3% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,058,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $521,629,000 after acquiring an additional 578,564 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 395,317.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 569,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,661,000 after acquiring an additional 569,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.89% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Company Profile

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Verisk Analytics, Inc engages in the provision of data analytics services. It serves insurance customers and focuses on the prediction of loss, the selection and pricing of risk, and compliance. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Jersey City, NJ.