Howard Capital Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 791 Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Howard Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 791 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Equifax by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Equifax by 3.5% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 17,005 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,142,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Equifax by 14.5% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 15,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Equifax by 12.0% during the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,212 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Equifax during the first quarter valued at about $215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other news, EVP Jamil Farshchi sold 4,925 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.94, for a total value of $1,176,779.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,405,634.16. This represents a 11.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 27,959 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.10, for a total value of $6,461,324.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,032,047.40. This represents a 16.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,270 shares of company stock worth $12,580,837. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Equifax from $310.00 to $289.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Equifax from $294.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Equifax from $287.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Equifax from $295.00 to $253.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.13.

Equifax Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $211.40 on Friday. Equifax, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $281.07. The company has a market cap of $25.87 billion, a PE ratio of 40.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $242.56 and its 200 day moving average is $251.21.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 11.08%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equifax has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.980-2.080 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.550-7.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. 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.