Blair William & Co. IL Grows Stock Position in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,643 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.07% of Equifax worth $21,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Equifax by 6.0% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 392,560 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $100,703,000 after buying an additional 22,302 shares during the last quarter. Explore Capital Management LLC grew its position in Equifax by 34.6% during the third quarter. Explore Capital Management LLC now owns 40,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,500,000 after buying an additional 10,530 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 164.6% during the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 4,998 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Equifax by 18.4% during the third quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 178,203 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,714,000 after purchasing an additional 27,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $932,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.72, for a total transaction of $880,740.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,532,018.12. This trade represents a 7.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.89, for a total transaction of $7,629,624.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,506 shares in the company, valued at $46,536,856.34. The trade was a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,671 shares of company stock valued at $9,960,181. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on EFX. Bank of America assumed coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $271.00 to $266.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets set a $195.00 price objective on Equifax in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Equifax from $295.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.33.

Equifax Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $208.28 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $206.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $25.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.55. Equifax, Inc. has a 1 year low of $166.02 and a 1 year high of $281.03.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. Equifax had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equifax has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.300-8.700 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.630-1.730 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.56 dividend. This is a boost from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

Equifax Company Profile

Equifax Inc (NYSE: EFX) is a global data, analytics and technology company that specializes in consumer and commercial credit reporting, decisioning tools and identity solutions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax is one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies in the United States and provides credit information and related services to lenders, employers, governments and consumers worldwide.

The company’s offerings include consumer credit reports and scores, credit monitoring and identity protection services, and a range of business-oriented products for risk management, fraud detection and compliance.