Capital International Investors Boosts Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Capital International Investors dramatically increased its Verisk Analytics stake in Q4, boosting holdings by 1,200.9% to 3.26 million shares valued at about $730.2 million. Other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions, and hedge funds now own 90% of the stock.
• Verisk insiders have been selling shares recently, including Director Samuel G. Liss and CFO Elizabeth Mann. Over the past 90 days, insiders sold 12,636 shares worth about $2.23 million, though insiders still own 0.52% of the company.
• Verisk reported Q1 results that beat expectations, with EPS of $1.82 versus $1.76 expected and revenue of $782.6 million topping estimates. The company also authorized a $2.5 billion buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.

Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1,200.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,264,323 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,013,400 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 2.34% of Verisk Analytics worth $730,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1,521.9% during the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 88,440 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $19,783,000 after acquiring an additional 82,987 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 141.7% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $1,082,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 37,872 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,472,000 after buying an additional 2,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 19,524 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,834,000 after buying an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 6,765 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.63, for a total transaction of $1,201,666.95. Following the sale, the director directly owned 69,098 shares in the company, valued at $12,273,877.74. This represents a 8.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.22, for a total value of $63,688.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,118,164.48. This represents a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock worth $2,225,119 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $223.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $181.73 on Monday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.94 and a 52-week high of $321.83. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $176.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $771.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue 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 anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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