Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 34,775 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its Verisk stake by 2.9%, selling 34,775 shares and leaving it with 1,161,685 shares (about 0.83% of the company) valued at roughly $259.9 million per its SEC filing.
• $2.5 billion share buyback approved (up to ~10.1% of shares) and a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share was declared (annualized $2.00, ~1.1% yield).
• Verisk beat the quarter with EPS $1.82 vs. $1.76 and revenue $782.6M, set FY2026 EPS guidance of 7.45–7.75, has an average analyst target of $238.20, and is ~90% institutionally owned.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,161,685 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 34,775 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.83% of Verisk Analytics worth $259,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 334.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 754,548 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $188,237,000 after purchasing an additional 580,885 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1,879.0% during the 3rd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 566,235 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $142,414,000 after purchasing an additional 537,623 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 232.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 760,599 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $191,298,000 after buying an additional 531,713 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 114.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 987,011 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $248,243,000 after buying an additional 526,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 115.4% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 874,918 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $220,051,000 after buying an additional 468,782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 approximately $538,920. The trade was a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.57, for a total transaction of $68,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,984 shares in the company, valued at $3,428,654.88. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK opened at $180.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $190.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.32. The firm has a market cap of $23.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.72. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.70 and a 1 year high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on VRSK. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $223.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $224.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $238.20.

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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