Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Given New $301.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $285.00 to $301.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target suggests a potential upside of 9.20% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.00.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK opened at $275.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $39.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.42, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $215.32 and a 1-year high of $287.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $268.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $261.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction of $54,266.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

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.