Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 46.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 58,670 shares during the period. Equifax makes up about 1.5% of Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $17,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 392,560 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $100,703,000 after buying an additional 22,302 shares in the last quarter. Explore Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Explore Capital Management LLC now owns 40,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,500,000 after purchasing an additional 10,530 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 164.6% during the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 4,998 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 178,203 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,714,000 after purchasing an additional 27,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at about $932,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.89, for a total transaction of $7,629,624.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,536,856.34. This represents a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.72, for a total value of $880,740.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,532,018.12. This trade represents a 7.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,671 shares of company stock worth $9,960,181. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Equifax from $235.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $253.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.33.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $198.44 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.87 billion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $207.84 and a 200-day moving average of $223.15. Equifax, Inc. has a one year low of $166.02 and a one year high of $281.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. Equifax had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equifax has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.300-8.700 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.630-1.730 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This is a boost from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Equifax Company 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.