Cullinan Associates Inc. Sells 250 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Cullinan Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,750 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,895,487 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,436,215,000 after purchasing an additional 204,481 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,703,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,388,695,000 after acquiring an additional 40,642 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Equifax by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,856,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $953,612,000 after acquiring an additional 298,846 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 1,740.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $515,817,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972,564 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Equifax by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,572,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $388,949,000 after acquiring an additional 206,037 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on EFX. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.19.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX stock opened at $239.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $275.10. The company has a market cap of $29.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $236.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.39.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Karen L. Fichuk bought 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $238.77 per share, with a total value of $99,089.55. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,305 shares in the company, valued at $789,134.85. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Karen L. Fichuk purchased 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $238.77 per share, with a total value of $99,089.55. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,134.85. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,969,282 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Company Profile

Equifax Inc operates as a data, analytics, and technology company. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers services that enables customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal justice data, healthcare professional licensure, and sanctions of people in the United States; and employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship.