Legal & General Group Plc Increases Position in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 737,941 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 32,147 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Equifax were worth $189,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 458 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Equifax by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.8% during the third quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 2,126 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 82.9% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 128 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 16.9% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 401 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $182.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $204.01 and its 200 day moving average is $219.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Equifax, Inc. has a 52-week low of $166.02 and a 52-week high of $281.03.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. The company 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 was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This is an increase from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $253.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $271.00 to $266.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $240.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $269.00 to $244.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Equifax to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jamil Farshchi sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.87, for a total transaction of $233,248.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,968,617.03. This trade represents a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.72, for a total value of $880,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,921 shares in the company, valued at $11,532,018.12. This trade represents a 7.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 49,671 shares of company stock worth $9,960,181 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.