Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Grows Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 391,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,811 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.28% of Verisk Analytics worth $87,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 133.9% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 24,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,524,000 after purchasing an additional 14,139 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 614,926 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $137,553,000 after purchasing an additional 64,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PCM Encore LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $379,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.0%

VRSK stock opened at $183.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.94 and a twelve month high of $314.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.83.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $771.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. The business’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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 30.44%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRSK. Capital One Financial set a $224.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. 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 research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Monday, March 30th. One equities research 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 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.99, for a total transaction of $408,776.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,868 shares in the company, valued at $2,776,741.32. The trade was a 12.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 6,765 shares of the company’s 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 owned 69,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,273,877.74. The trade was a 8.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 17,307 shares of company stock worth $3,076,222 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

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.