USS Investment Management Ltd Cuts Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd cut its Verisk Analytics position by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 131,889 shares and leaving it with 780,619 shares worth about $174.7 million.
• Several Verisk insiders sold shares in recent months, including Director Samuel G. Liss and CFO Elizabeth Mann; insiders sold 17,307 shares total over the last three months.
• Verisk recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, and the company authorized a $2.5 billion share repurchase program while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.

USS Investment Management Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 780,619 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 131,889 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics makes up approximately 0.9% of USS Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. USS Investment Management Ltd owned 0.56% of Verisk Analytics worth $174,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 141.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 4,671 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.21, for a total value of $851,102.91. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 69,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,590,346.58. This trade represents a 6.33% decrease in their position. The sale 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 the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.22, for a total value of $63,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,118,164.48. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 17,307 shares of company stock valued at $3,076,222 in the last three months. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $235.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Verisk Analytics from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $215.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group set a $224.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $183.80 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.67. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.94 and a 1-year high of $314.80.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.06. Verisk Analytics had a negative return on equity of 2,405.75% and a net margin of 29.34%.The firm had revenue of $782.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $771.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.73 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.44%.

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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