Marshall Wace LLP Sells 66,017 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Marshall Wace LLP cut its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,051,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 66,017 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.85% of Equifax worth $254,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in Equifax by 138.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upped their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $299.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $288.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.46. The firm has a market cap of $36.99 billion, a PE ratio of 66.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. 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.