Prudential PLC Acquires 42,499 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Prudential PLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 141.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 72,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,499 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $18,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth about $556,192,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 232.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 531,713 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 114.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 987,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $248,243,000 after acquiring an additional 526,508 shares during the last quarter. Navera Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth about $110,017,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 31.8% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,492,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $375,433,000 after purchasing an additional 360,419 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.6%

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $201.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.60 and a fifty-two week high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $778.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $773.74 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.56% and a return on equity of 357.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.50 dividend. 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 an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, 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 cost of $180.00 per share, with a total value of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $538,920. The trade was a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.54, for a total value of $65,862.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,738.10. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.20.

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.