Verisk Analytics’ (VRSK) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $315.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $325.00.

VRSK has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.60.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $268.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $304.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. Verisk Analytics has a twelve month low of $259.22 and a twelve month high of $322.92. The stock has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.88, for a total value of $91,164.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 15,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,790,668.20. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 stock was sold at an average price of $300.86, for a total value of $1,630,360.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,821,985.18. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,825 shares of company stock worth $8,947,730 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 46.8% during the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,060,000 after purchasing an additional 4,153 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 40,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,567,000 after acquiring an additional 3,345 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 13,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,084,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at about $218,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.