Man Group plc Makes New Investment in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 517,102 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $82,074,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 650,391 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $141,199,000 after purchasing an additional 224,073 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake 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. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 1,253.8% during the fourth quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 24,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,420,000 after buying an additional 23,133 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,098,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,056 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,389,000 after buying an additional 9,710 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,808,582.40. The trade was a 12.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX stock opened at $192.16 on Wednesday. Equifax, Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.74 and a 1-year high of $271.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $173.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.19. The company has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.77, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.73% and a return on equity of 21.61%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equifax has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.390-8.690 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Equifax from $222.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $182.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.89.

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.