Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho upgraded Equifax to a "strong-buy", while the analyst mix remains broadly positive (1 Strong Buy, 11 Buy, 5 Hold) with a consensus price target of $236.80.
• Equifax beat Q4 expectations with $2.09 EPS (vs. $2.05 est.) and $1.55B revenue (up 9.3% YoY) and issued FY2026 guidance of $8.30–$8.70 EPS and Q1 guidance of $1.63–$1.73.
• Company insiders have sold roughly 49,671 shares (~$9.96M) recently, including CEO Mark Begor and EVP John Gamble, even as institutional investors hold about 96.2% of the stock.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Mizuho to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $195.00 price objective on Equifax in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Argus raised Equifax to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Equifax from $253.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Equifax from $295.00 to $265.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.80.

Equifax Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of EFX opened at $190.36 on Thursday. Equifax has a 52-week low of $166.02 and a 52-week high of $281.03. The business's fifty day moving average is $189.66 and its 200-day moving average is $207.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $22.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.78, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.56.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Equifax had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equifax has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.300-8.700 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.630-1.730 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,532,018.12. This represents a 7.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.89, for a total value of $7,629,624.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,536,856.34. This trade represents a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,671 shares of company stock valued at $9,960,181. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,056,441 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,097,147,000 after purchasing an additional 66,289 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake 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 worth $942,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,921 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 57.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,809,879 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $609,693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 6.3% in the third quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 2,736,467 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $701,986,000 after purchasing an additional 163,375 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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