ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $45.71 Million Stake in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 18.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 178,203 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,740 shares during the period. Equifax makes up about 1.6% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $45,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,966,903 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,881,966,000 after acquiring an additional 258,572 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,968,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,288,783,000 after acquiring an additional 66,914 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its stake in Equifax by 27.6% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 987,772 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Equifax by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,142,763 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $811,650,000 after purchasing an additional 75,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 63.4% during the 1st quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 2,801,325 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $682,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,446 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Jamil Farshchi sold 4,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,364 shares in the company, valued at $9,405,634.16. This trade represents a 11.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 21,386 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.12, for a total transaction of $4,942,732.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 22,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,095,040.40. The trade was a 49.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,270 shares of company stock valued at $12,580,837. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer started coverage on Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $271.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $287.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $245.00 to $234.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.73.

Equifax Stock Up 0.3%

EFX stock opened at $220.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $215.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.60. Equifax, Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.98 and a 52-week high of $281.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.95%.

Equifax 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.