Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Price Down 4.8% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) traded down 4.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $182.50 and last traded at $185.41. 1,022,433 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 1,991,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Verisk Analytics from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $215.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $25.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.51, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $201.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.14. 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $778.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $773.74 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.56% and a return on equity of 357.00%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.82%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $180.00 per share, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $538,920. This trade represents a 50.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.71, for a total transaction of $81,884.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 20,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,808.64. This trade represents a 1.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stance Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 6,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Worthington Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $451,000. Midway Capital Research & Management purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $2,782,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Arwa LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $1,279,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Company Profile

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.