BlackRock Inc. Purchases Shares of 10,319,602 Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 10.32 million shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.85 billion, giving it a 7.93% stake. Institutional investors collectively own about 90% of the company.
• Verisk reported quarterly EPS of $1.98, exceeding the $1.93 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 4.3% year over year to $806.3 million. The company issued full-year EPS guidance of $7.45–$7.75.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $236.27. Verisk also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing a 1.1% annualized yield.

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,319,602 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,852,678,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 7.93% of Verisk Analytics as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 25.6% in the 4th 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 during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 441.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 44,185 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,884,000 after purchasing an additional 36,025 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,489,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 302,134 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $66,778,000 after buying an additional 14,720 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,367,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 3,535 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.94, for a total transaction of $696,182.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,396,620.60. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.95, for a total transaction of $71,980.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,308,200.80. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,562 shares of company stock worth $4,575,075. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $247.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $235.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore set a $223.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $236.27.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $186.45 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $187.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.67. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.94 and a fifty-two week high of $276.19.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $806.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $804.02 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 28.24% and a negative return on equity of 239.55%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.72%.

Verisk Analytics 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.

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