Exploring Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK) Investor Profile: Who’s Buying and Why?

You're looking at Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK) and wondering why this data-and-analytics powerhouse, which is so deeply embedded in the insurance ecosystem, is drawing such a specific crowd of buyers, right? Honestly, the investor profile tells a clear story: institutions own a staggering 95.82% of the stock, with giants like Vanguard Group Inc and BlackRock, Inc. leading the charge, so this isn't a retail-driven play; it's a long-term institutional bet on the sticky, recurring revenue model of a risk-assessment leader. But here's the quick math: while the company raised its full-year 2025 revenue guidance to a range of $3.09 billion to $3.13 billion, its Q3 2025 net income only saw a modest 2.5% increase to $226 million, a mixed signal that has analysts holding a consensus "Hold" rating, even as free cash flow jumped by nearly 40% to $336.1 million. What this estimate hides is the strategic rotation happening under the hood, with some funds trimming positions while others, like FMR LLC, added significantly in Q2 2025, which begs the question: are the big players buying for the stable cash flow, or are they betting on the long-term upside from new AI-driven solutions in underwriting and claims?

Who Invests in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK) and Why?

If you're looking at Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK), you're primarily looking at a stock dominated by institutional money. This isn't a retail-driven story; it's a core holding for the world's largest asset managers, and their motivations are clear: predictable growth, high profitability, and exceptional cash flow generation.

The investor base for Verisk Analytics, Inc. is overwhelmingly institutional, with approximately 90.00% of the stock held by large funds and hedge funds. This high concentration means the stock's price movements are largely dictated by the strategic decisions of these giants, not individual investors. It's a sign of a mature, stable business model that fits well into massive, diversified portfolios.

Here's the quick math on who owns the most: The top shareholders are the usual suspects in the passive investing world, like Vanguard Group Inc., which holds over 17.2 million shares, and BlackRock, Inc., holding more than 13.0 million shares as of the latest filings. State Street Corp is also a major player, with nearly 6.0 million shares. These firms are essentially buying the market, and Verisk Analytics, Inc.'s position as a leading data analytics provider makes it an automatic inclusion.

• Vanguard Group Inc.: 17,241,308 shares.
• BlackRock, Inc.: 13,045,465 shares.
• State Street Corp: 5,988,430 shares.

The Institutional Playbook: Why They Buy

The core attraction for these major institutions is the company's financial quality and market position. Verisk Analytics, Inc. is the dominant data and analytics engine for the insurance industry, which translates to a highly resilient business model. They're not just buying a stock; they're buying a crucial utility for the P&C (property and casualty) sector.

The 2025 fiscal year data highlights this quality. For the third quarter of 2025, the company reported revenue of $768 million, a 5.9% increase year-over-year, and an Adjusted EBITDA of $429 million, up 7.2%. Honestly, that kind of margin expansion is what institutional investors crave. Plus, the free cash flow surged by a remarkable 39.6% to $336.1 million in Q3 2025, demonstrating the strong cash generation potential. Strong cash flow means financial flexibility, which can be used for acquisitions, share buybacks, or dividends.

The company also returned capital to shareholders, repurchasing 0.4 million shares for $100.0 million in Q3 2025. And, the board approved a cash dividend of $0.45 per share payable on December 31, 2025. That's a defintely attractive mix of growth and shareholder return.

What this estimate hides, however, is the near-term risk. The company's full-year 2025 revenue guidance was revised downward to a range of $3.05 billion to $3.08 billion, which is a slight disappointment to analysts. Still, the profitability guidance was maintained, which reassures investors about the business's operational discipline.

Investment Strategies: Long-Term Quality and Active Growth

We see two primary strategies at play among Verisk Analytics, Inc. investors:

1. Long-Term Holding (Passive/Quality): This is the dominant approach. The Vanguard and BlackRock money is generally passive, meaning they hold the stock for the long haul because it's a high-quality component of major indices. Their strategy is to capture the steady, compounding growth of a market leader. They are not trying to time the market; they are buying the company's Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK). and its execution.

2. Active/Growth-Oriented Investing: This group includes hedge funds and active asset managers looking for a rebound or a mispriced asset. For example, D. E. Shaw & Co., Inc., a notable hedge fund, increased its position by a massive 201% in the latest quarter, adding over 1.2 million shares. This suggests a conviction that the stock, despite a decline of 20.88% in the year leading up to November 2025, is poised for significant upside as the company executes on its growth strategy and realizes its full financial potential. They see the dip as a buying opportunity for a business with a 55.8% Adjusted EBITDA margin.

Here is a snapshot of the major holders' recent moves, which shows the mix of conviction: some are trimming, but the biggest names are adding or holding steady.

Finance: Monitor D. E. Shaw & Co., Inc.'s next 13F filing to validate the active growth thesis.

Institutional Ownership and Major Shareholders of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK)

If you're looking at Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK), you're defintely looking at a stock dominated by the big money. The direct takeaway here is that institutional investors-the mutual funds, pension funds, and asset managers-own a massive portion of the company, and their buying and selling patterns are the primary drivers of the stock's near-term movements.

As of late 2025, institutional ownership sits around a staggering 90% of the company's outstanding shares. This high concentration isn't unusual for a stable, high-margin data analytics firm like Verisk, but it means that a few key players hold significant sway. Here's the quick math: with a market capitalization near $30.34 billion, the movements of these large funds represent billions of dollars in capital allocation.

The top shareholders are a who's who of the financial world, which should give you confidence in the underlying business quality, but also signals that the stock is widely benchmarked. For a deeper dive into the company's foundation, you can check out Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money.

The largest institutional holders, based on recent 13F filings, are the names you'd expect to see at the top of any major S&P 500 component:

• Vanguard Group Inc: Holds over 15.1 million shares, valued at more than $3.27 billion.
• BlackRock, Inc.: A major holder, reflecting its massive index and active fund presence.
• State Street Corp: Another passive investing giant, holding a substantial stake.
• Alliancebernstein L.p.: One of the top active managers with a significant position.

These firms, especially Vanguard and BlackRock, are largely passive investors, meaning they buy and hold Verisk because it's a key component of the indices their funds track. Their presence provides a bedrock of stable demand for the stock.

Recent Shifts: Who's Accumulating and Who's Trimming?

While the passive giants provide stability, it's the active managers and hedge funds that drive the interesting near-term price action. What we've seen in the 2025 fiscal year is a mix of aggressive accumulation and some profit-taking, which is natural given the broader market volatility.

Overall, the total institutional shares (Long) saw a slight decrease of about -0.97% in the most recent quarter, suggesting a minor trimming of positions across the board. But look closer, and you see big, directional bets being placed. For example, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position by a massive 631.0% in the first quarter of 2025, adding over 1.2 million shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. also raised its position significantly, by 52.7% in Q1 2025.

This tells you that while some funds are rebalancing, others are doubling down on Verisk's core value proposition-its indispensable data and analytics for the insurance industry. They are buying into the company's strong financial performance, which delivered Q3 2025 diluted adjusted EPS of $1.72 and is guiding for a full-year 2025 EPS between $6.80 and $7.00. My take is that the aggressive buyers see the data and analytics sector as a long-term winner, and Verisk is a premium way to play it.

Here are a few notable moves from the recent filings:

The Influence of Institutional Capital on Strategy and Price

The sheer weight of institutional ownership-at roughly 90%-means these large investors are not just passive holders; they are the ultimate arbiters of Verisk's long-term strategy and stock price. They play a crucial role in two ways: capital stability and strategic oversight.

First, their consistent, large-scale buying provides a floor for the stock price. When a company is this heavily owned by institutions, any significant sell-off is often met with index funds buying the dip to maintain their benchmark weightings. Second, their sheer size gives them a powerful voice in corporate governance. They expect Verisk to maintain its strong operational performance, which saw Q3 2025 revenue grow 5.9% to $768 million. They push for capital efficiency, like the $100.0 million in share repurchases Verisk completed in Q3 2025.

These investors are buying Verisk because its data platforms and risk modeling tools are essential to the global insurance industry. They are betting on the company's ability to integrate its data more deeply into the industry ecosystem for efficiency, which is what the CEO has highlighted as a key strategic focus. The ongoing review of the AccuLynx acquisition by the FTC is a strategic decision that is closely watched by these large holders, as it impacts Verisk's expansion into new markets. The institutional focus is clear: maintain the high margins and keep expanding the data moat. Your action here is to monitor the strategic moves-like acquisitions and divestitures-because the institutional money is doing the same.

Key Investors and Their Impact on Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK)

You're looking at Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK) because you know the data and analytics sector is where the real money is made, but understanding who owns the stock, and why they are moving, is the key to your own decision-making. The direct takeaway here is that Verisk is overwhelmingly an institutional darling, with recent moves showing a clear rotation: passive index funds are the bedrock, but active managers are making big bets on the company's pure-play insurance focus, while others are taking profits.

Institutional investors-the big mutual funds, pension funds, and asset managers-own a massive chunk of this company, sitting at approximately 90.00% to 95.82% of the outstanding shares. That means the stock's day-to-day movement is defintely driven by the quiet, multi-million-share decisions of giants like Vanguard Group Inc, BlackRock, Inc., and State Street Corp. These are the names that provide stability and liquidity, holding a total of over 150.56 million institutional shares.

The Active Money: Who's Buying and Selling Big

Forget the small retail trades; the real action is in the quarterly 13F filings (reports of institutional holdings). In the 2025 fiscal year, we've seen some significant capital shifts. For example, FMR LLC (Fidelity Management & Research LLC) made a strong statement in the second quarter, adding 846,238 shares, a 17.7% increase, bringing their estimated value to around $263.6 million. This is a conviction buy, showing belief in the company's trajectory as a streamlined insurance data powerhouse.

But it's not a one-way street. Other major players are trimming their positions. PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/, for instance, removed 491,567 shares in Q2 2025, a reduction of 28.8%, which was an estimated $153.1 million sale. This kind of selling usually signals a reallocation of capital or a view that the stock has reached its near-term valuation target. You need to look at both sides of the trade.

Here's a quick look at some of the most notable recent institutional moves in 2025:

• Ameriprise Financial Inc.: Grew their position by a massive 631.0% in Q1 2025, adding 1,221,798 shares for a total stake valued at approximately $422.7 million.
• Nuveen LLC: Acquired a new stake in Q1 2025, valued at over $508.6 million.
• Invesco Ltd.: Increased their stake by 36.0% in Q1 2025, now holding 2,251,051 shares worth nearly $670.0 million.

Activist Influence and the Pure-Play Strategy

The biggest driver of Verisk Analytics, Inc.'s current structure traces back to activist investor pressure from the D. E. Shaw Group. While their major public push was in 2022, their influence is precisely why the company is focused on being a pure-play insurance data business today. They pushed for a strategic review to unlock value, arguing Verisk could double its earnings per share (EPS) by 2025.

The resulting actions-like the sale of the Verisk Financial Services business-have fundamentally changed the company, leading to the current FY 2025 EPS guidance of $6.80-$7.00. The influence of an activist is often felt long after they quiet down, as management executes the new, leaner strategy. This strategic clarity is what the major institutional buyers are now betting on. For a deeper dive into the numbers supporting this pivot, you should check out Breaking Down Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

What Insider Trading Tells You

Insider trading-transactions by executives and directors-is a key signal, and here, the picture is mixed but leans cautious. Over the last six months of 2025, there have been significantly more insider sales than purchases. Most recently, CEO Shavel Lee sold 2,200 shares in November 2025. Insider selling doesn't always signal a lack of confidence; it's often for personal liquidity or diversification, but a persistent pattern of sales is something to monitor closely. It's a note of caution that balances the large institutional inflows.

Here's the quick math on recent performance: The company reported Q2 2025 revenue of $768.30 million. The stock is trading at a premium, so insider sales are a rational move for executives to realize value after the strategic pivot. Your action item is to watch for any large insider buys, which would be a much stronger signal of long-term executive confidence than the current pattern.

Market Impact and Investor Sentiment

You're looking at Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK) and trying to figure out if the big money is buying or selling. The direct takeaway is that institutional confidence remains high, with roughly 90.00% of the company's shares held by professional investors, signaling a long-term belief in the core data-analytics business model. However, this strong ownership hasn't insulated the stock from near-term volatility, as recent market reactions prove.

The institutional sentiment, while overwhelmingly positive in terms of sheer ownership, shows a mixed-but-net-positive accumulation trend over the past year. We've seen a significant number of institutional buyers (756) outweighing sellers (545), resulting in net institutional inflows of approximately $3.59 billion ($8.21B inflows minus $4.62B outflows). This suggests a strategic rotation, where some funds are taking profits while others, like Nuveen LLC, are initiating substantial new positions, such as their new stake valued at over $508.6 million in the first quarter of 2025.

It's defintely a vote of confidence when firms like Ameriprise Financial Inc. boost their holdings by a massive 631.0% to a position worth $422.676 million. This kind of activity highlights a belief that Verisk's proprietary data and technology solutions, which you can read more about in their Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK), are essential for the insurance industry's future. Insider activity also leans bullish, with company directors recently buying more shares than they sold in the last three months.

Here's a quick look at the largest institutional holders as of the latest filings, which gives you a sense of who is anchoring the stock:

Recent Market Reactions to Ownership Shifts

The stock market has been unforgiving when Verisk Analytics, Inc. hits a bump. The most notable recent reaction occurred on October 29, 2025, when shares sank sharply by 10.4% following the company's third-quarter earnings report. This drop wasn't due to a major institutional sale but rather a strategic shift's near-term impact: the company lowered its full-year 2025 revenue guidance to a range of $3.05 billion to $3.08 billion, citing softer demand for property claims tools. The culprit? Unusually mild weather and a quiet Atlantic hurricane season, which reduced claims activity and, consequently, demand for Verisk's transaction-driven services.

This is a perfect example of a data-analytics company being directly exposed to external, unpredictable risk events. The stock's price of $224.87 per share as of November 19, 2025, reflects a significant decline of over 20% in the preceding year, a clear underperformance compared to the broader S&P 500 Index. Still, the fact that institutional investors collectively added substantial capital even with this volatility shows they view the dip as temporary, focusing on the long-term subscription-based revenue stability.

Analyst Perspectives on Key Investor Impact

Wall Street's view on Verisk Analytics, Inc. is currently mixed, but the consensus is generally a 'Hold' or 'Moderate Buy.' Analysts are grappling with the company's strong fundamentals-like its impressive return on equity of 425.42%-against the latest revenue guidance cut.

The average 12-month price target from analysts sits around $266.33 to $282.14, suggesting an upside potential of approximately 19% from the current price. But, to be fair, there have been price target cuts; for instance, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its target to $250.00 while keeping an 'Overweight' rating. This signals that while the near-term growth story is being moderated, the long-term thesis remains intact.

Here's the quick math on the earnings front: Verisk Analytics, Inc. has set its fiscal year 2025 Earnings Per Share (EPS) guidance between $6.80 and $7.00, which is slightly above the analyst consensus forecast of $6.63 EPS for the current year. The institutional investors, particularly the passive giants like Vanguard Group Inc. and BlackRock, Inc., are essentially betting that the company's core value-its data moat (a defensible competitive advantage)-will deliver on the high end of that EPS guidance, making the stock a quality growth play despite the recent weather-related revenue hiccup.

• Focus on the long-term subscription revenue stability.
• Expect the stock to remain sensitive to quarterly, event-driven revenue.
• Use the average price target of $266.33 as a near-term valuation anchor.