UBS Group Lowers Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target to $300.00

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $320.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.34% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on VRSK. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.56.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $271.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34. The stock has a market cap of $37.99 billion, a PE ratio of 41.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.83. Verisk Analytics has a 12-month low of $259.22 and a 12-month high of $322.92. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $305.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.25.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 30.67% and a return on equity of 460.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total transaction of $98,080.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,803,714.34. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $16,821,985.18. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. 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. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at approximately $508,611,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 631.0% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,415,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $422,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221,798 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 36,332.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,204,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $358,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201,162 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,251,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $669,958,000 after purchasing an additional 596,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,653,727 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $492,182,000 after purchasing an additional 434,053 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently 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.