Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $177.30, but opened at $194.42. Verisk Analytics shares last traded at $181.8390, with a volume of 1,179,979 shares.

The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $778.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $773.74 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 357.00% and a net margin of 29.56%.The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.44%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Verisk Analytics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes $2.5 billion share buyback (up to ~10.1% of shares), which supports buyback-driven EPS accretion and signals management thinks shares are undervalued. RTT News – Share Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.50 (an 11.1% increase), adding yield and returning cash to shareholders. Zacks – Dividend Hikes
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report Q4 revenue (~$779M, +5.9% y/y) and EPS that topped some consensus figures, reflecting steady demand for Verisk’s data‑analytics products. Reuters – Profit Beats
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage initiated at Bank of America (new analyst attention can increase investor visibility). AmericanBankingNews – Coverage Initiated
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry writeups highlight AI adoption and a portfolio refocus as strategic drivers for growth — useful long‑term context but not an immediate catalyst. MSN – Q4 Deep Dive
• Neutral Sentiment: Press materials and call transcripts are available summarizing Q4 results and slides — useful for digging into segment performance and margin drivers. Verisk Press Release & Slides
• Negative Sentiment: FY‑2026 guidance came in below consensus: EPS guidance of $7.45–7.75 (vs. ~7.71 consensus) and revenue guidance around $3.2B (below ~3.3B consensus) — this trimmed some of the post‑earnings optimism. Zacks – Guidance Below Consensus
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan cut its price target from $260 to $220 (still Overweight), a visible analyst downgrade in valuation that may damp investor enthusiasm even though upside remains. Benzinga – JPMorgan PT Cut
• Negative Sentiment: At least one earnings‑call transcript report shows an EPS miss vs. expectations, creating some confusion in markets about the exact beat/miss picture; investors should rely on the company press release and reconciliations. InsiderMonkey – Earnings Call Transcript

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays upgraded Verisk Analytics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $310.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $237.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $240.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.54, for a total transaction of $65,862.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,738.10. The trade was a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $11,148,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 124,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,745,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 20,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,653,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 20,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,685,000 after buying an additional 3,026 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. The stock has a market cap of $25.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $209.90 and a 200 day moving average of $231.15.

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.