Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its Verisk stake by 0.4% in Q4, selling 71,964 shares and now holds 17,169,363 shares — about 12.32% of the company valued at ~$3.84 billion.
• Q4 beat and guidance: Verisk reported $1.82 EPS vs. $1.60 expected and revenue of $778.8M (up 5.8% YoY), and set FY2026 guidance of $7.45–$7.75 EPS (analysts average ~$7.63).
• Capital returns: the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.50 (annualized $2.00, ~1.1% yield) and authorized a $2.5 billion share buyback to repurchase up to ~10.1% of outstanding stock.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,169,363 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 71,964 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.32% of Verisk Analytics worth $3,840,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $174.85 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.70 and a 1 year high of $322.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $22.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.22. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 357.00% and a net margin of 29.56%.The firm had revenue of $778.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $773.74 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.82%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group set a $224.00 price target on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.20.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.57, for a total transaction of $68,628.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $180.00 per share, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $538,920. This represents a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics 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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