HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 6,460 Shares of Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Equifax, Inc. by 11.1%, owning 64,580 shares valued at approximately $15.7 million.
• Equifax reported $2.00 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate, with a revenue increase of 7.4% year-over-year.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on Equifax, with an average price target of $285.00 and several ratings indicating strong buy or outperform status.

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 64,580 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,460 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.05% of Equifax worth $15,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Equifax by 7,883,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $241,087,000 after purchasing an additional 945,988 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 119.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,453,618 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $354,044,000 after acquiring an additional 790,919 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 24,315.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 696,094 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $169,541,000 after purchasing an additional 693,243 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,281,340,000 after purchasing an additional 679,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,708,331 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,582,361,000 after purchasing an additional 318,826 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock traded up $11.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $256.92. 292,524 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,051,312. Equifax, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The stock's fifty day moving average is $252.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.47. The company has a market cap of $31.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The credit services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 18.89%. Equifax's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Equifax has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.870-1.970 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.330-7.630 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.71, for a total transaction of $11,665,891.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 142,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,533,591.12. This represents a 25.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America downgraded shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $285.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $294.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $278.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $310.00 to $289.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.53.

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.