Insider Buying: Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Director Buys 1,000 Shares of 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 stock was purchased at an average price of $180.00 per share, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the completion of 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 5.3%

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

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released 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 return on equity of 357.00% and a net margin of 29.56%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.82%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $224.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore cut their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $262.00 to $250.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Verisk Analytics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $310.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $240.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently 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.