Benjamin Edwards Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 981.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 140,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,312 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $31,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 223.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $235.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Verisk Analytics from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $224.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.20.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $181.11 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.70 and a 52 week high of $322.92. The company has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.02.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $782.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $771.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 30.44%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,428,654.88. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $180.00 per share, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at $538,920. This trade represents a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 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.