Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $34.63 Million Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 154,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,581 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $34,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 346,525 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,354,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,346,605,000 after buying an additional 158,791 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,121,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $923,576,000 after buying an additional 36,194 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1,200.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,264,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $730,196,000 after buying an additional 3,013,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,694,505 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $426,185,000 after purchasing an additional 26,518 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.22, for a total value of $63,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,118,164.48. This represents a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,336 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,307 shares of company stock worth $3,076,222. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $182.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.49. The company has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.94 and a 12 month high of $314.80.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $782.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $771.62 million. Verisk Analytics had a negative return on equity of 2,405.75% and a net margin of 29.34%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. 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 share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors 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 yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $223.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group set a $224.00 price objective on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $235.00 price objective on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verisk Analytics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $237.20.

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.