Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Purchases 329,967 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs increased its Verisk Analytics stake by 36.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 329,967 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,239,459 shares worth about $277.3 million.
• Verisk reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.82 versus $1.76 expected and revenue of $782.6 million, up 4.0% year over year.
• The company also returned cash to shareholders through a quarterly $0.50 dividend and a newly authorized $2.5 billion share buyback plan, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 36.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,239,459 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 329,967 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.89% of Verisk Analytics worth $277,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $223.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $181.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.81 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.69. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $176.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.24. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.94 and a 12-month high of $321.83.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $782.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $771.62 million. Verisk Analytics had a negative return on equity of 2,405.75% and a net margin of 29.34%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.73 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.44%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.22, for a total transaction of $63,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,118,164.48. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,336 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 owned 15,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,776,741.32. This trade represents a 12.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $2,225,119. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Company 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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