Barclays PLC Purchases 296,816 Shares of Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 121.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 540,896 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 296,816 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.44% of Equifax worth $138,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EFX. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at $334,521,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,282,951 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,920,535,000 after purchasing an additional 316,048 shares during the period. Spear Holdings RSC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the third quarter worth $76,754,000. Greenhouse Funds LLLP purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the second quarter worth $59,935,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Equifax by 19.6% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380,012 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $354,014,000 after buying an additional 226,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Equifax from $269.00 to $244.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group set a $230.00 price target on Equifax in a report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Equifax from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $220.00 price objective on Equifax in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $195.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.33.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $208.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.05 billion, a PE ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Equifax, Inc. has a 12 month low of $166.02 and a 12 month high of $281.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $206.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.24.

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

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This is a positive change from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.89, for a total value of $7,629,624.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 230,506 shares in the company, valued at $46,536,856.34. This trade represents a 14.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.72, for a total transaction of $880,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,532,018.12. This represents a 7.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,671 shares of company stock valued at $9,960,181. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Equifax

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.