Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 12,989 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,989 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $16,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 80.7% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,055 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 1,364 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.3% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 108,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,216,000 after buying an additional 17,520 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 51.3% in the third quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 85,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,580,000 after acquiring an additional 29,100 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at about $1,084,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $237.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Argus cut shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $240.86.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Christopher John Perry bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the director owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $538,920. This trade represents a 50.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.54, for a total value of $65,862.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,265 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,738.10. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock opened at $207.57 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.60 and a 1 year high of $322.92. 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 capitalization of $28.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $778.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 27.73%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Verisk Analytics

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.