Barclays PLC Sells 165,502 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Barclays PLC cut its Verisk Analytics stake by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 165,502 shares and leaving it with 696,419 shares worth about $155.8 million.
• Insider selling also continued, with directors Samuel G. Liss and Bruce Edward Hansen both reducing their holdings in recent transactions; insiders sold 16,907 shares over the last quarter.
• Verisk posted solid quarterly results and returned cash to shareholders, beating EPS and revenue estimates, authorizing a $2.5 billion share repurchase program, and declaring a $0.50 quarterly dividend payable June 30.

Barclays PLC reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 696,419 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 165,502 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.50% of Verisk Analytics worth $155,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 valued at $20,249,000 after purchasing an additional 18,461 shares during the period. 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 valued at $5,067,000 after purchasing an additional 15,058 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 77.0% in the 3rd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 59,083 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,860,000 after buying an additional 25,712 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 7,265.5% in the fourth quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 31,156 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,969,000 after acquiring an additional 30,733 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2,071.9% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 37,270 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,374,000 after acquiring an additional 35,554 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 6,765 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.63, for a total transaction of $1,201,666.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 69,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,273,877.74. The trade was a 8.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,336 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.99, for a total transaction of $408,776.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,776,741.32. This trade represents a 12.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,907 shares of company stock worth $2,994,338. Insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on VRSK shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Monday, March 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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 note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of VRSK opened at $180.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.94 and a 12-month high of $314.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.69. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $175.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.37.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

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.

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