AlphaQuest LLC Raises Holdings in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 6,240.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,712 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Equifax by 1.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 284,987 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $73,917,000 after buying an additional 4,552 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equifax in the second quarter worth $117,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Equifax by 1.1% in the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 100,549 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in Equifax by 45.8% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 974 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Equifax by 30.0% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 49,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,846,000 after purchasing an additional 11,389 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $251.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $287.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 27,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.10, for a total transaction of $6,461,324.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,934 shares in the company, valued at $33,032,047.40. The trade was a 16.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jamil Farshchi sold 4,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.94, for a total transaction of $1,176,779.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,405,634.16. This represents a 11.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 54,270 shares of company stock valued at $12,580,837 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equifax Trading Down 4.5%

NYSE EFX opened at $214.09 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.20 billion, a PE ratio of 40.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $243.25 and a 200 day moving average of $251.49. Equifax, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $281.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The credit services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. Equifax has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.980-2.080 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.550-7.650 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 37.95%.

Equifax Company Profile

Equifax Inc operates as a data, analytics, and technology company. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers services that enables customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal justice data, healthcare professional licensure, and sanctions of people in the United States; and employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship.