Scientech Research LLC Invests $201,000 in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 831 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Equifax by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,757,425,000 after buying an additional 342,170 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,033,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,754,228,000 after buying an additional 137,961 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Equifax by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,036,952,000 after buying an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in Equifax by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,856,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $953,612,000 after buying an additional 298,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $738,184,000 after buying an additional 70,091 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 1.2 %

Equifax stock opened at $290.30 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.65, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $260.76.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays raised their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.11.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other 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 owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax 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.