Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Raymond James Financial

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) was upgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $260.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 25.26% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Argus cut shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $237.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.93.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $207.57 on Monday. Verisk Analytics has a fifty-two week low of $164.60 and a fifty-two week high of $322.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $206.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.98, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.81.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results 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. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 357.00% and a net margin of 29.56%.The company had revenue of $778.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $773.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christopher John Perry acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $180.00 per share, with a total value of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $538,920. This trade represents a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.54, for a total transaction of $65,862.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 14,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,738.10. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verisk Analytics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jensen Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 424,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,802,000 after acquiring an additional 142,911 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,256,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 101,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,646,000 after buying an additional 17,200 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 278.4% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 87,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,902,000 after buying an additional 64,066 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

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.