Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Lowers Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 555,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 13,003 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.45% of Equifax worth $134,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1,740.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $515,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,564 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Equifax by 72.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,051,000 after acquiring an additional 633,887 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,794,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,757,425,000 after acquiring an additional 342,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 70.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 739,492 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $182,869,000 after acquiring an additional 305,028 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $302.06.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX stock opened at $299.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.61, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.95 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $287.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $259.31.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

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.