Swiss National Bank Trims Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 403,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 20,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Verisk Analytics worth $101,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,241,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,336,366,000 after purchasing an additional 346,525 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,900,000 after buying an additional 33,213 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $556,192,000. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,492,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $375,433,000 after acquiring an additional 360,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 4.6% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,333,337 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $415,334,000 after purchasing an additional 58,772 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $223.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group set a $224.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock opened at $202.66 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.60 and a 1 year high of $322.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $205.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.83.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $778.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $773.74 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.56% and a return on equity of 357.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.73%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Christopher John Perry bought 1,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at $538,920. The trade was a 50.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.54, for a total value of $65,862.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,265 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,738.10. The trade was a 2.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.46% 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.