M&T Bank Corp Acquires 18,318 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• M&T Bank more than doubled its stake in Verisk, increasing holdings by 115.9% (adding 18,318 shares) to own 34,125 shares valued at $7.63 million, with institutional investors holding about 90% of the stock.
• Verisk topped estimates for the quarter (EPS $1.82 vs. $1.60) and set FY2026 guidance of 7.45–7.75 EPS, roughly in line with analysts’ average forecast of 7.63 and an average price target of $237.20.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.50 ($2.00 annual, 1.1% yield) and authorized a $2.5 billion buyback—up to about 10.1% of shares outstanding—signaling management’s confidence in the stock.

M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 115.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,125 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,318 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 113,933 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,511,000 after acquiring an additional 10,538 shares during the period. Novem Group bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $1,015,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 497.0% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,260 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 22,543 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,042,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. UBS Group set a $224.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $260.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock opened at $177.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.70 and a 12 month high of $322.92. The firm has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.82. The company's 50-day moving average price is $190.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $209.00.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.22. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.56% and a return on equity of 357.00%. The firm had revenue of $778.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $773.74 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 30.82%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher John Perry bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $180.00 per share, with a total value of $180,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at $538,920. This represents a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.57, for a total transaction of $68,628.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,984 shares in the company, valued at $3,428,654.88. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company 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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