National Pension Service Boosts Stock Holdings in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• National Pension Service boosted its Equifax stake by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 19,885 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 202,563 shares worth about $43.95 million.
• Equifax reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $1.86 versus $1.69 expected and revenue of $1.65 billion versus $1.61 billion anticipated, while also issuing upbeat 2026 guidance.
• Despite the earnings beat, Wall Street has trimmed price targets on the stock; analysts still have a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average target price of $226.67, while the shares recently traded around $165.86.

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,563 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,885 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.17% of Equifax worth $43,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equifax by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,282,951 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,920,535,000 after purchasing an additional 316,048 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Equifax by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,990,152 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,280,124,000 after purchasing an additional 21,255 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Equifax by 35.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Equifax by 6.3% in the third quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 2,736,467 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $701,986,000 after buying an additional 163,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 0.6% in 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 buying an additional 9,741 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $210.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $256.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $226.67.

Equifax Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of EFX opened at $165.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.81. Equifax, Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.47 and a 1-year high of $275.91. The stock has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.32.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The credit services provider reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for 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%.Equifax's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $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. Equities analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is 39.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 271,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,846,252. This represents a 12.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Chad M. Borton sold 2,455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.89, for a total value of $426,899.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,132,885.02. This trade represents a 7.68% 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 corporate insiders.

About Equifax

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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