Verisk (VRSK) slides 5% as investors digest recent guidance, leverage-funded buyback, and mixed analyst price-target resets

Verisk Analytics (VRSK) is down 5.0% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: A single, definitive catalyst for today’s drop is not clearly identifiable from public disclosures, but the move appears tied to continued post-earnings repositioning after the company’s 2026 outlook and capital-return actions. Investors may also be weighing incremental balance-sheet leverage used to support an accelerated share repurchase, alongside recent price-target reductions from multiple covering firms.

Details:

In its latest quarterly results, the company discussed temporary demand headwinds tied to unusually low weather activity, even as it reiterated confidence in longer-term targets.

The company increased its total share repurchase authorization to $2.5 billion and also declared a $0.50 per share dividend payable March 31, 2026 (record date March 13, 2026), which can shift near-term trading dynamics around capital return and valuation.

A subsequent filing outlined financing and accelerated share repurchase arrangements, a structure that can increase leverage and sometimes sparks concerns about financial flexibility and interest expense sensitivity.

Separately, a cluster of analyst updates in late February and early March showed mixed actions, including multiple price-target cuts alongside at least one upgrade—an overall setup that can amplify volatility when sentiment is fragile.

Sources:

Verisk investor release, U.S. securities filing, Benzinga

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$VRSK Insider Trading Activity

$VRSK insiders have traded $VRSK stock on the open market 11 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 5 have been purchases and 6 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $VRSK stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

LEE SHAVEL (Chief Executive Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 2,200 shares for an estimated $480,766.
ELIZABETH MANN (Chief Financial Officer) has made 0 purchases and 4 sales selling 1,300 shares for an estimated $285,512.
GREGORY HENDRICK has made 2 purchases buying 1,000 shares for an estimated $198,150 and 0 sales.
KIMBERLY S STEVENSON purchased 1,000 shares for an estimated $179,200
JEFFREY J DAILEY purchased 500 shares for an estimated $108,515
SABRA R. PURTILL purchased 450 shares for an estimated $98,077

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$VRSK Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 487 institutional investors add shares of $VRSK stock to their portfolio, and 579 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC removed 3,979,155 shares (-74.3%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $890,097,181
CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS added 3,013,400 shares (+1200.9%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $674,067,446
FMR LLC removed 1,738,173 shares (-40.1%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $388,811,918
D. E. SHAW & CO., INC. added 1,157,181 shares (+60.2%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $258,849,817
MASSACHUSETTS FINANCIAL SERVICES CO /MA/ removed 665,802 shares (-25.9%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $148,933,249
MACKENZIE FINANCIAL CORP removed 615,341 shares (-86.5%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $137,645,628
MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC removed 559,893 shares (-88.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $125,242,465

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$VRSK Government Contracts

We have seen $6,557,380 of award payments to $VRSK over the last year.

Here are some of the awards which we have have seen pay out the most over the last year:

THE OFFICE OF CHILD SUPPORT SERVICES (OCSS) INSURANCE MATCH (IM) PROGRAM IS A TOOL TO ASSIST STATE IV-D AGE...: $4,036,326
THE CONTRACTOR SHALL FURNISH ALL PERSONNEL, SUPERVISION, EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES, FACILITIES, MATERIALS, AND SE...: $905,344
TRIP CLAIMS SYSTEM: $700,337
TRIP DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: $473,350
NEXT-GENERATION SPACE ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGIES (NSET) BASIC AWARD: $423,421

To track government contracts to publicy traded companies, check out Quiver Quantitative's government contracts dashboard.

$VRSK Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $VRSK stock 6 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 2 have been purchases and 4 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $VRSK stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE GILBERT RAY CISNEROS, JR. has traded it 4 times. They made 2 purchases worth up to $30,000 on 02/10, 11/18 and 2 sales worth up to $30,000 on 01/09, 12/19.
REPRESENTATIVE RICK LARSEN sold up to $15,000 on 01/07.
REPRESENTATIVE JULIE JOHNSON sold up to $15,000 on 11/03.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard.

$VRSK Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $VRSK in the last several months. We have seen 5 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 1 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Barclays issued a "Overweight" rating on 10/30/2025
RBC Capital issued a "Outperform" rating on 10/30/2025
JP Morgan issued a "Overweight" rating on 10/30/2025
Wells Fargo issued a "Overweight" rating on 10/30/2025
Rothschild & Co issued a "Sell" rating on 10/16/2025
Seaport Global issued a "Buy" rating on 10/01/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $VRSK, check out Quiver Quantitative's $VRSK forecast page.

$VRSK Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $VRSK recently. We have seen 10 analysts offer price targets for $VRSK in the last 6 months, with a median target of $235.0.

Here are some recent targets:

C. Gregory Peters from Raymond James set a target price of $260.0 on 03/02/2026
Jason Haas from Wells Fargo set a target price of $240.0 on 03/02/2026
Andre Benjamin from Goldman Sachs set a target price of $206.0 on 02/19/2026
David Motemaden from Evercore ISI Group set a target price of $216.0 on 02/19/2026
Ashish Sabadra from RBC Capital set a target price of $230.0 on 02/19/2026
Andrew Steinerman from JP Morgan set a target price of $220.0 on 02/19/2026
Toni Kaplan from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $270.0 on 12/17/2025

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.