Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 303,635 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 901,894 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 303,635 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $201,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 2,094.4% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 395 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,147,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $256,606,000 after acquiring an additional 35,936 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $285,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 154,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,628,000 after acquiring an additional 10,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Syon Capital LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 2,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $223.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial upgraded Verisk Analytics from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $215.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $224.00 price target on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $182.55 on Wednesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.94 and a 12 month high of $314.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.49. The company has a market cap of $23.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.69.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced 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 company had revenue of $782.60 million for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.44%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.22, for a total value of $63,688.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,118,164.48. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 2,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.99, for a total transaction of $408,776.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,776,741.32. The trade was a 12.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 17,307 shares of company stock valued at $3,076,222 in the last 90 days. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.