Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 140,427 Shares of Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,726,990 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,427 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 1.39% of Equifax worth $447,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HRT Financial LP bought a new position in Equifax during the second quarter valued at approximately $15,742,000. Hillman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hillman Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,874,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $632,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Equifax during the second quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Equifax by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 4,839 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $245.00 to $234.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $271.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $295.00 to $253.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 27,959 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.10, for a total transaction of $6,461,324.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 142,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,032,047.40. The trade was a 16.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jamil Farshchi sold 4,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.94, for a total value of $1,176,779.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,405,634.16. This represents a 11.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,270 shares of company stock valued at $12,580,837. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE EFX opened at $220.50 on Friday. Equifax, Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.98 and a 12-month high of $281.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $26.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The credit services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.10. Equifax had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. Equifax has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.980-2.080 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.550-7.650 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.95%.

Equifax Company 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.