Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Buys 75,811 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 391,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,811 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $87,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1,200.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,264,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $730,196,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013,400 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $346,457,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 334.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 754,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,237,000 after acquiring an additional 580,885 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1,879.0% during the 3rd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 566,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $142,414,000 after acquiring an additional 537,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 232.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 760,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $191,298,000 after acquiring an additional 531,713 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Capital One Financial set a $224.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $235.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Verisk Analytics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock opened at $183.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.83. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $155.94 and a one year high of $314.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $782.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $771.62 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.34% and a negative return on equity of 2,405.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 4,671 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.21, for a total transaction of $851,102.91. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 69,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,590,346.58. This represents a 6.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.22, for a total transaction of $63,688.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,118,164.48. The trade was a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,307 shares of company stock valued at $3,076,222. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.