Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $168.99, but opened at $175.60. Verisk Analytics shares last traded at $172.4820, with a volume of 198,856 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSK. Capital One Financial set a $224.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Verisk Analytics from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Verisk Analytics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.87.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 3.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The company has a market capitalization of $23.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $175.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.96.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $782.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $771.62 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.34% and a negative return on equity of 2,405.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 30.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 4,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.21, for a total value of $851,102.91. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 69,098 shares in the company, valued at $12,590,346.58. This represents a 6.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.22, for a total transaction of $63,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,118,164.48. This represents a 2.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,907 shares of company stock worth $2,994,338. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1,200.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,264,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $730,196,000 after buying an additional 3,013,400 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $346,457,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 334.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 754,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $188,237,000 after purchasing an additional 580,885 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1,879.0% in the 3rd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 566,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,414,000 after purchasing an additional 537,623 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 232.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 760,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $191,298,000 after purchasing an additional 531,713 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

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.