Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 32,147 Shares of Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 737,941 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,147 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.60% of Equifax worth $189,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Country Trust Bank bought a new stake in Equifax in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in Equifax by 82.9% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 128 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 694.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 143 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Down 4.7%

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $182.46 on Friday. Equifax, Inc. has a 1-year low of $166.02 and a 1-year high of $281.03. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $204.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This is a positive change from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 42.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Jamil Farshchi sold 6,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.81, for a total transaction of $1,216,567.53. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at $8,035,259.16. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,532,018.12. This represents a 7.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 49,671 shares of company stock valued at $9,960,181 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EFX shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $253.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $271.00 to $266.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $220.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Equifax from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Equifax from $269.00 to $244.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.33.

Equifax 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.