Fred Alger Management LLC Boosts Position in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in Equifax, Inc. by 124.1% in the first quarter, owning approximately $44 million worth of shares after acquiring an additional 100,098 shares.
• Equifax reported a net margin of 10.95% and earnings of $2.00 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with quarterly revenue up 7.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, corresponding to an annual yield of 0.8%, with a payout ratio of 39.14% for its investors.

Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 124.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 180,733 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 100,098 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC owned about 0.15% of Equifax worth $44,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc raised its holdings in Equifax by 3.7% in the first quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 1,134 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,595 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,395 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 9.5% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 738 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.71, for a total value of $11,665,891.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 142,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,533,591.12. This trade represents a 25.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of EFX traded down $3.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $256.46. The stock had a trading volume of 733,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 880,827. Equifax, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $31.75 billion, a PE ratio of 50.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock's 50 day moving average is $249.19 and its 200 day moving average is $250.28.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Equifax had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equifax has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.870-1.970 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.330-7.630 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. 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%.

Equifax 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.