Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $237.20.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $223.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Verisk Analytics from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $215.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.71, for a total transaction of $81,884.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 20,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,808.64. This represents a 1.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was bought 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 approximately $538,920. This represents a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aquatic Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 295.8% during the third quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 20,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,067,000 after purchasing an additional 15,058 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 424,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $106,802,000 after buying an additional 142,911 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,196,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $300,931,000 after buying an additional 73,026 shares during the period. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth $1,256,000. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 77.0% during the 3rd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 59,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,860,000 after buying an additional 25,712 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $199.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $27.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $202.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.67. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $164.60 and a 1-year high of $322.92.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase 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 30.82%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.