Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. reduced its stake in Verisk by 25.9% in Q4 to 1,903,422 shares, representing about 1.37% of the company and worth roughly $425.8 million.
• Verisk's board authorized a $2.50 billion share buyback (up to 10.1% of shares) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share ($2.00 annualized).
• Verisk beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.82 vs. $1.60), set FY2026 guidance of 7.45–7.75 EPS, and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target near $237.20.

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,903,422 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 665,802 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.37% of Verisk Analytics worth $425,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth $28,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 223.9% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 149 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $223.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Monday, March 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $260.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $164.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $191.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.67. The company has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.70 and a 12-month high of $322.92.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christopher John Perry acquired 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, with a total value of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at $538,920. This trade represents a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.71, for a total transaction of $81,884.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 20,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,808.64. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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