Insider Selling: Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Director Sells $408,776.64 in Stock

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,336 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.99, for a total transaction of $408,776.64. Following the sale, the director owned 15,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,776,741.32. This trade represents a 12.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Bruce Edward Hansen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 22nd, Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,335 shares of Verisk Analytics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.51, for a total transaction of $400,475.85.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $178.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.61. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.94 and a 12-month high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $782.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $771.62 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.34% and a negative return on equity of 2,405.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.73 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 90,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,249,000 after buying an additional 18,461 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 295.8% in the third quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 20,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,067,000 after buying an additional 15,058 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 50.7% in the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 424,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $106,802,000 after buying an additional 142,911 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,196,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $300,931,000 after buying an additional 73,026 shares during the period. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 77.0% in the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 59,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,860,000 after buying an additional 25,712 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Verisk Analytics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Capital One Financial set a $224.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $237.20.

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.