Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Holdings in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden increased its Equifax stake by 61.6% in the first quarter, buying 14,860 more shares and bringing its total holding to 38,964 shares worth about $7.0 million.
• Equifax reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.86 topping estimates and revenue of $1.65 billion also beating expectations. The company also raised guidance for Q2 2026 and fiscal 2026.
• Despite the positive earnings, there was recent insider selling from CEO Mark Begor and EVP Chad Borton, while analysts remain broadly constructive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $223.39.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 61.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,964 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,860 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Equifax were worth $7,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,056,441 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,097,147,000 after buying an additional 66,289 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in 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 period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 57.2% during 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. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.6% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,736,731 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $445,524,000 after purchasing an additional 9,741 shares during the period. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,723,998 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $374,073,000 after purchasing an additional 12,995 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.40, for a total transaction of $6,515,168.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 271,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,846,252. The trade was a 12.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Chad M. Borton sold 2,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.89, for a total transaction of $426,899.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,518 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,132,885.02. This represents a 7.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Down 0.1%

EFX stock opened at $171.86 on Monday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $165.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.41. The company has a market capitalization of $20.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Equifax, Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.74 and a 12 month high of $275.91.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The credit services provider reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.12%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Equifax has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.340-8.740 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on EFX shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $244.00 to $243.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $173.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Equifax from $226.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $223.39.

Equifax Profile

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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