M&T Bank Corp Increases Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,784 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $4,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 334.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 754,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $188,237,000 after purchasing an additional 580,885 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1,879.0% in the third quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 566,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,414,000 after purchasing an additional 537,623 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 232.3% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 760,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $191,298,000 after purchasing an additional 531,713 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 114.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 987,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $248,243,000 after purchasing an additional 526,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 115.4% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 874,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $220,051,000 after purchasing an additional 468,782 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSK. Capital One Financial set a $224.00 price target on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $235.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.20.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK opened at $170.94 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $189.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $205.91. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.70 and a 12-month high of $322.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.72.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Verisk Analytics had a negative return on equity of 2,405.75% and a net margin of 29.34%.The firm had revenue of $782.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $771.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.44%.

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

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Christopher John Perry bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $180.00 per share, with a total value of $180,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $538,920. The trade was a 50.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.57, for a total value of $68,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,428,654.88. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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.