VELA Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 25.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,925 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,290 shares during the quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 612.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Begor sold 37,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total value of $6,506,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,808,582.40. The trade was a 12.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Equifax from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $195.00 to $179.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $230.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.16.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $177.31 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $20.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $178.53 and its 200 day moving average is $177.79. Equifax, Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.74 and a twelve month high of $271.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The credit services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.05. Equifax had a return on equity of 21.61% and a net margin of 10.73%.The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equifax has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.390-8.690 EPS. Research analysts expect that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 39.37%.

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.