Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Acquires New Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Verisk Analytics, buying 16,262 shares valued at about $3.64 million.
• Several other institutional investors have also been active in VRSK, and the stock is now 90% owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Verisk reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, while also announcing a $2.5 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,262 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,638,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,232 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Promus Capital LLC now owns 2,382 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Bank boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Essex Bank now owns 12,388 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,771,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,336 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.99, for a total value of $408,776.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,868 shares in the company, valued at $2,776,741.32. The trade was a 12.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 4,671 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.21, for a total transaction of $851,102.91. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 69,098 shares in the company, valued at $12,590,346.58. This represents a 6.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 17,307 shares of company stock worth $3,076,222 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America decreased 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 report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $183.13 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.94 and a 52 week high of $314.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $175.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 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 EPS 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 business had revenue of $782.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $771.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. The business'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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.50 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 30.44%.

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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