Insider Buying: Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Director Acquires $180,000.00 in Stock

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at $538,920. This trade represents a 50.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $202.64 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.56. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.60 and a 1 year high of $322.92. The company has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.79.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.22. The company 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 company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 27.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VRSK. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 39.6% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 11,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,551,000 after acquiring an additional 3,385 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 114.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 15.9% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group set a $224.00 price target on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays upgraded Verisk Analytics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $310.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Argus downgraded Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $240.86.

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.