Westport Asset Management Inc. Makes New $1.53 Million Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Westport Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 8,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,526,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $1,852,678,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1,200.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,264,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $730,196,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,400 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $346,457,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $138,842,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 2nd quarter worth $122,866,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Evercore set a $223.00 price objective on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.49, for a total transaction of $394,889.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,251,262.84. This represents a 14.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 3,535 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.94, for a total value of $696,182.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 98,490 shares in the company, valued at $19,396,620.60. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,562 shares of company stock worth $4,575,075. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 4.2%

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $186.45 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $187.80 and a 200 day moving average of $185.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.67. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.94 and a 52 week high of $276.19.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a negative return on equity of 239.55% and a net margin of 28.24%.The company had revenue of $806.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $804.02 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.72%.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.