North Star Asset Management Inc. Has $25.86 Million Holdings in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 119,181 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,361 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $25,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,344,531 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $942,676,000 after buying an additional 1,145,921 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $3,920,535,000 after buying an additional 316,048 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 956.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 328,592 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $84,248,000 after buying an additional 297,489 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 121.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 540,896 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $138,756,000 after buying an additional 296,816 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 43.7% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 775,866 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $199,033,000 after buying an additional 236,022 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $164.24 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $19.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. Equifax, Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.47 and a 12 month high of $275.91.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The credit services provider reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equifax has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.340-8.740 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 39.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.40, for a total transaction of $6,515,168.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,846,252. This represents a 12.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,921 shares in the company, valued at $11,532,018.12. This trade represents a 7.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 44,746 shares of company stock valued at $7,822,808. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $210.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $222.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $244.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.67.

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.