Plato Investment Management Ltd Invests $1.46 Million in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management acquired 8,192 shares of Verisk Analytics worth approximately $1.46 million, while institutional investors collectively own about 90% of the company.
• Verisk exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $1.98 and revenue of $806.3 million, up 4.3% year over year. Analysts project about $7.71 in full-year EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing a $2.00 annualized payout and a 1.1% yield. Despite several bullish analyst targets, the consensus rating remains Hold with an average price target of $236.27.

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,192 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,462,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 141.7% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $175.62 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.94 and a 12-month high of $276.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The company has a market cap of $22.86 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $187.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.15.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $806.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $804.02 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 28.24% and a negative return on equity of 239.55%. Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. 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 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 30.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 3,535 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.94, for a total transaction of $696,182.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,396,620.60. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,020 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.49, for a total value of $394,889.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 11,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,251,262.84. The trade was a 14.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,562 shares of company stock valued at $4,575,075. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $235.00 price target on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $247.00 price objective on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.27.

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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