Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Position Boosted by Creative Planning

Creative Planning increased its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,397 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Equifax were worth $10,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Equifax by 72.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $405,051,000 after buying an additional 633,887 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake 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 valued at $3,757,425,000 after purchasing an additional 342,170 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,036,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 127.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $84,947,000 after purchasing an additional 196,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $3,754,228,000 after purchasing an additional 137,961 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EFX shares. Barclays increased their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX opened at $272.09 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-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 firm has a market capitalization of $33.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.60, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $294.79 and a 200-day moving average of $263.21.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 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.