Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $287.21 and last traded at $286.53, with a volume of 189969 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $280.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $40.24 billion, a PE ratio of 44.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $269.62 and a 200-day moving average of $263.70.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,144,000 after buying an additional 261,961 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,941,000 after purchasing an additional 203,951 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth about $28,739,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 187.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 171,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,305,000 after purchasing an additional 111,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $436,204,000 after acquiring an additional 111,364 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.