Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Position in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,198,610 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 151,808 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 2.61% of Equifax worth $820,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 48.9% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Equifax by 12.5% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Equifax by 56.8% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,686 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trinity Street Asset Management LLP raised its stake in Equifax by 44.0% during the third quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 104,444 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,793,000 after purchasing an additional 31,913 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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 lowered their price objective on Equifax from $271.00 to $266.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Equifax from $285.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.14.

Equifax Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of EFX opened at $219.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $214.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.57. Equifax, Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.98 and a 12 month high of $281.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The credit services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm 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. Equities analysts predict that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Jamil Farshchi sold 4,925 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,405,634.16. This trade represents a 11.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 21,386 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.12, for a total value of $4,942,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 54,270 shares of company stock worth $12,580,837 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.