Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) to Buyback $2.50 billion in Outstanding Stock

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised Verisk Analytics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $233.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $315.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Verisk Analytics from $315.00 to $239.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore lowered their price target on Verisk Analytics from $262.00 to $250.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $264.21.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK traded up $6.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $184.07. 3,417,776 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,259,430. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $210.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.48. Verisk Analytics has a 12-month low of $164.60 and a 12-month high of $322.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.79.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $778.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $773.74 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 425.42% and a net margin of 30.42%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.44%.

Key Headlines Impacting Verisk Analytics

Here are the key news stories impacting Verisk Analytics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat estimates — Verisk reported $1.82 EPS vs. consensus ~ $1.58–$1.60 and revenue of ~$779M (up ~5–6% YoY); margins and EPS growth were highlighted on the call, driving strong investor reaction. Verisk quarterly profit beats estimates on steady data analytics demand
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase — Verisk raised its quarterly payout to $0.50 (an 11.1% increase), with an ex‑dividend/record schedule announced; this boosts yield and signals confidence in cash flow.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic partnership — Verisk announced a data‑sharing collaboration with S&P Global Energy to deliver insurance‑adjusted climate risk intelligence, expanding product capability into climate/financial modeling areas. Verisk and S&P Global Energy Collaborate
• Neutral Sentiment: New analyst coverage — Bank of America initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and $205 price target, providing a modestly constructive third‑party view but not a catalyst to materially change consensus. Finviz (BofA initiation)
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials / call available — The company released its press release, slide deck and call transcript useful for modeling FY‑2026 assumptions. Verisk press release / slide deck
• Negative Sentiment: FY‑2026 guidance came in slightly below consensus — management set EPS at $7.45–7.75 (consensus ~7.71) and revenue guidance near $3.2B vs. the Street ~ $3.3B; that moderation helps explain some investor caution despite the quarter’s beat. Verisk’s Q4 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates (Zacks)

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.54, for a total transaction of $65,862.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,738.10. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSK) is a data analytics and decision‑support provider that helps organizations assess and manage risk. The company supplies data, predictive models and software to customers in insurance, reinsurance, financial services, government, energy and other commercial markets. Its offerings are designed to support underwriting, pricing, claims management, catastrophe modeling, fraud detection and regulatory compliance, enabling clients to make more informed operational and strategic decisions.

Verisk’s product portfolio combines large proprietary datasets with analytics platforms and industry‑specific applications.