Baird Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group cut its Equifax stake by 93.9% in the second quarter, selling 105,716 shares and retaining 6,875 shares valued at approximately $1.09 million. Institutional investors collectively own 96.2% of Equifax.
• Equifax insiders also sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, including CEO Mark Begor’s $6.5 million sale and EVP John Gamble’s $845,820 sale.
• Despite several analysts lowering price targets, Equifax maintains a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average target of $215.16. The company recently reported quarterly EPS of $2.25, revenue growth of 10.6% year over year, and a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share.

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 93.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,875 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 105,716 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Vulcan Value Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the second quarter valued at approximately $14,404,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Equifax by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,587 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 26.8% during the second quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 6,541 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion boosted its stake in Equifax by 94.9% during the second quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 710,685 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $112,798,000 after acquiring an additional 346,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 3.4% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,314 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Equifax news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.96, for a total transaction of $845,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 69,055 shares in the company, valued at $12,979,577.80. The trade was a 6.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Begor sold 37,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total transaction of $6,506,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,808,582.40. The trade was a 12.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Equifax from $215.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Equifax from $195.00 to $179.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Equifax from $230.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Equifax from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $182.00 price target (up from $173.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.16.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX opened at $158.81 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $178.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.31. Equifax, Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.74 and a 52-week high of $262.30.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The credit services provider reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.05. Equifax had a net margin of 10.73% and a return on equity of 21.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equifax has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.390-8.690 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.37%.

Equifax Company Profile

Equifax Inc NYSE: EFX is a global data, analytics and technology company that provides information solutions to businesses, government agencies and consumers. Its services help organizations assess credit risk, prevent fraud, verify identities, market products and make informed decisions about lending, employment and other transactions.

The company's offerings include consumer and commercial credit reports, credit scores, fraud-prevention and identity-management tools, income and employment verification services, mortgage and housing data, and workforce-management solutions.

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