Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,889,106 shares, an increase of 13.6% from the March 31st total of 6,064,945 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,986,876 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Key Stories Impacting Verisk Analytics

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded VRSK to “Overweight” and raised its price target to $230 (about a 24.7% upside vs. the current price), which could attract buyer interest and support a rebound. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations: Verisk reported $1.82 EPS vs. $1.76 expected and revenue of $782.6M vs. ~$771M consensus, driven by strong demand for analytics in underwriting and claims (margin expansion noted). That beat is a clear positive fundamental catalyst. Reuters
• Positive Sentiment: Verisk declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.50 per share (record June 15; payable June 30), yielding roughly 1.1% — supportive for income‑oriented investors.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company completed a divestiture of its Verisk Marketing Solutions business (now rebranded InfutorData by buyer ActiveProspect). This trims non‑core operations and clarifies strategic focus, but is not a near‑term earnings driver. PR Newswire
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript and slide deck are available for details on segment performance and management commentary (useful for modeling revenue cadence and margin drivers). Slide Deck / Press Release
• Negative Sentiment: FY‑2026 EPS guidance was set at $7.45–$7.75, which is essentially in line with — but not clearly above — Street expectations (consensus ~7.61). Some investors may view the guidance as conservative or lacking upside, which can limit upside momentum after the Q1 beat. GlobeNewswire

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Christopher John Perry acquired 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, with a total value of $180,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at $538,920. The trade was a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.57, for a total transaction of $68,628.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,654.88. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America began 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 on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Capital One Financial set a $224.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verisk Analytics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.20.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $184.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. Verisk Analytics has a 12-month low of $161.70 and a 12-month high of $322.92. The company has a market capitalization of $24.17 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $190.18 and its 200-day moving average is $207.27.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $782.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $771.62 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.34% and a negative return on equity of 2,405.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 30.82%.

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.