Bank of America Corp DE Buys Shares of 1,179,532 Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 1,179,532 Equifax shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $187.2 million and representing a 1.0% stake. BlackRock and other institutional investors also increased their positions, with institutions owning 96.2% of Equifax.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 15 Buy ratings and six Holds, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $215.16.
• Equifax reported quarterly EPS of $2.25, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 10.6% year over year to $1.70 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.56, equivalent to a 1.4% annual yield.

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,179,532 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $187,215,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 1.00% of Equifax as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,491,357,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 310.5% during the 1st quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,184,569 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $753,515,000 after buying an additional 3,165,120 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,809,879 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $609,693,000 after buying an additional 1,022,819 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,723,998 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $374,073,000 after buying an additional 12,995 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Equifax by 105.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,603,415 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $347,909,000 after buying an additional 823,116 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EFX. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $245.00 to $232.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equifax from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $243.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 271,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,808,582.40. This trade represents a 12.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Gamble sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.96, for a total value of $845,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 69,055 shares in the company, valued at $12,979,577.80. The trade was a 6.12% 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. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equifax Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $161.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $178.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.31. Equifax, Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.74 and a 1 year high of $266.79.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The credit services provider reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.05. Equifax had a net margin of 10.73% and a return on equity of 21.61%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equifax has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.390-8.690 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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

Equifax 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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