Jones Financial Companies Lllp Purchases 2,745 Shares of Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Equifax, Inc. by 90.7% during Q1, holding 5,771 shares worth approximately $1.41 million.
• A number of brokerages have lowered their target prices for Equifax, with ratings varying from "Strong Buy" to "Neutral," leading to an average target price of $283.53.
• Equifax announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, yielding an annualized return of 0.8%.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 90.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,771 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,745 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Equifax were worth $1,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equifax by 2.2% in the first 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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Equifax by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,037,804 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,714,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009,987 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in Equifax by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 4,570,557 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,113,205,000 after buying an additional 987,772 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in Equifax by 63.4% in the 1st quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 2,801,325 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $682,291,000 after buying an additional 1,087,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Equifax by 119.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,453,618 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $354,044,000 after buying an additional 790,919 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $310.00 to $289.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $296.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on Equifax from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.80.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX traded up $0.90 during trading on Monday, hitting $257.15. 841,506 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 885,054. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $249.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.42. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.98 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $31.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.32, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.68.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid 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 yield of 0.8%. Equifax's payout ratio is presently 39.14%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,533,591.12. This trade represents a 25.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.