Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Director Acquires $180,000.00 in Stock

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Director Christopher John Perry bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $180.00 per share, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $538,920. This represents a 50.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock traded up $9.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $191.17. The stock had a trading volume of 3,373,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,041,978. The company has a market cap of $26.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.60 and a 12-month high of $322.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.49.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $778.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $773.74 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.56% and a return on equity of 357.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.82%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $260.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group set a $224.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $240.86.

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.