Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $12.63 Million Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Daiwa Securities Group boosted its Verisk Analytics stake by 69.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 56,469 shares valued at about $12.63 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on Verisk is mixed: the stock has a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $237.20, though several firms recently reiterated or raised bullish targets while Bank of America cut its target and kept a neutral view.
• Verisk recently beat quarterly earnings estimates and raised guidance, and it also announced a $2.50 billion share buyback plus a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share to be paid June 30.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 69.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,469 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,198 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $12,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSK. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $28,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSK. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Verisk Analytics from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Monday, March 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK opened at $181.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The company's fifty day moving average price is $176.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.24. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.94 and a 1-year high of $321.83. The company has a market cap of $23.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.69.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.06. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.34% and a negative return on equity of 2,405.75%. The firm had revenue of $782.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $771.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. The business'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. On average, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.22, for a total transaction of $63,688.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,336 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director owned 15,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,776,741.32. The trade was a 12.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $2,225,119. Insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

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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