Zacks Research Brokers Decrease Earnings Estimates for VRSK

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for Verisk Analytics in a report released on Wednesday, November 20th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the business services provider will earn $1.55 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.61. The consensus estimate for Verisk Analytics' current full-year earnings is $6.63 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Verisk Analytics' Q3 2025 earnings at $1.81 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.92 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and set a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ VRSK traded up $2.61 on Friday, hitting $290.17. 299,539 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 784,636. Verisk Analytics has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $291.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company has a market cap of $40.98 billion, a PE ratio of 45.37, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $272.23 and a 200-day moving average of $267.93.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after acquiring an additional 283,653 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $73,144,000 after acquiring an additional 261,961 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 60.4% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $145,941,000 after buying an additional 203,951 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $164,750,000 after acquiring an additional 195,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at $28,739,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.49, for a total value of $57,298.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,608 shares in the company, valued at $4,471,535.92. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

About Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics and technology solutions to the insurance markets in the United States and internationally. It offers policy language, prospective loss costs, policy writing and rating rules, and various underwriting solutions for risk selection and segmentation, pricing, and workflow optimization; property- and auto- specific rating and underwriting information solutions that allows clients to understand, quantify, underwrite, mitigate, and avoid potential loss for risks; catastrophe modeling solutions, which enables companies to identify, quantify, and plan for the financial consequences of catastrophes for use by insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, financial institutions, and governments.