Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC Reduces Position in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 46.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 58,670 shares during the period. Equifax accounts for about 1.5% of Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.06% of Equifax worth $17,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Equifax by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter worth $204,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 14.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,523 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 6,240.7% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 594.9% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,162 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 11,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $198.44 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $207.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.15. Equifax, Inc. has a 12-month low of $166.02 and a 12-month high of $281.03. The company has a market capitalization of $23.87 billion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. Equifax had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.72, for a total transaction of $880,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,921 shares in the company, valued at $11,532,018.12. This trade represents a 7.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.89, for a total value of $7,629,624.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,506 shares in the company, valued at $46,536,856.34. This represents a 14.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 49,671 shares of company stock valued at $9,960,181 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EFX. UBS Group set a $230.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $271.00 to $266.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $235.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $269.00 to $244.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.33.

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.