Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) to Buyback $2.50 billion in Stock

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $183.89 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42. Verisk Analytics has a 52 week low of $164.60 and a 52 week high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.22. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 29.56% and a return on equity of 357.00%. The business had revenue of $778.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $773.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on VRSK shares. UBS Group set a $224.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $260.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Verisk Analytics from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $240.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.54, for a total value of $65,862.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,265 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,738.10. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Verisk Analytics

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

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.