MUFG Securities EMEA plc Raises Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 174.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,658 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.99, for a total transaction of $408,776.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,868 shares in the company, valued at $2,776,741.32. This trade represents a 12.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.22, for a total value of $63,688.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,118,164.48. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,871 shares of company stock valued at $1,023,452. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded Verisk Analytics from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $215.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $235.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group set a $224.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $179.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.47 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.94 and a twelve month high of $322.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.13.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $771.62 million. Verisk Analytics had a negative return on equity of 2,405.75% and a net margin of 29.34%.The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.44%.

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.