Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 29,735 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,610 shares during the quarter. Equifax accounts for approximately 1.5% of Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $7,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Equifax to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday. Bank of America dropped their price target on Equifax from $285.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Equifax from $245.00 to $234.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.73.

Equifax Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of EFX opened at $220.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.59. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $281.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.47.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In related news, EVP Jamil Farshchi sold 4,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was 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 approximately $9,405,634.16. The trade was a 11.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 21,386 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were 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. This represents a 49.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 54,270 shares of company stock worth $12,580,837 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.