Legal & General Group Plc Raises Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Legal & General raised its stake in Verisk by 5.2% to 1,261,699 shares (about 0.91% ownership), valued at roughly $317.3 million.
• Verisk authorized a $2.5 billion share buyback (up to 10.1% of shares) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share (annualized $2.00, ~1.0% yield).
• The company beat quarterly expectations with $1.82 EPS vs. $1.60 expected and $778.8M revenue (up 5.8% YoY), and issued FY2026 EPS guidance of 7.45–7.75.

Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,261,699 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 62,533 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.91% of Verisk Analytics worth $317,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 50.7% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 424,645 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $106,802,000 after acquiring an additional 142,911 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,196,460 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $300,931,000 after acquiring an additional 73,026 shares during the period. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,256,000. ING Groep NV lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 278.4% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 87,082 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $21,902,000 after purchasing an additional 64,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 77.0% in the 3rd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 59,083 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,860,000 after purchasing an additional 25,712 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $203.13 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.60 and a 52-week high of $322.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $205.30 and a 200-day moving average of $224.68. The company has a market capitalization of $28.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.22. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 357.00% and a net margin of 29.56%.The business had revenue of $778.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $773.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.82%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $180.00 per share, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $538,920. The trade was a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.54, for a total transaction of $65,862.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,265 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,738.10. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Raymond James Financial upgraded 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. Wall Street Zen raised Verisk Analytics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.20.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.