Bruce Edward Hansen Sells 2,335 Shares of Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.51, for a total value of $400,475.85. Following the sale, the director owned 15,868 shares in the company, valued at $2,721,520.68. The trade was a 12.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $171.50 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.94 and a fifty-two week high of $322.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.91.

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 30.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 295.8% during the third quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 20,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,067,000 after purchasing an additional 15,058 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 90,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,249,000 after purchasing an additional 18,461 shares in the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 50.7% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 424,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,802,000 after purchasing an additional 142,911 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,196,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $300,931,000 after purchasing an additional 73,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 77.0% during the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 59,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,860,000 after purchasing an additional 25,712 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $223.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial upgraded Verisk Analytics from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $215.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Verisk Analytics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.