Dearborn Partners LLC Acquires 82,987 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Dearborn Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1,521.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 88,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,987 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $19,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 141.7% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $1,082,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 37,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,472,000 after purchasing an additional 2,020 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 19,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 3,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,336 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.99, for a total value of $408,776.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,776,741.32. This represents a 12.83% 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 Samuel G. Liss sold 6,765 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.63, for a total transaction of $1,201,666.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 69,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,273,877.74. This trade represents a 8.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $2,225,119 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $181.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.24. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.94 and a twelve month high of $321.83. The stock has a market cap of $23.81 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.69.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results 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. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.34% and a negative return on equity of 2,405.75%. The business had revenue of $782.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $771.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 30.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target 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. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Monday, March 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $237.20.

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.