Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 32.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 376 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Equifax were worth $96,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EFX. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 13.5% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in shares of Equifax by 3.0% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Equifax by 3.7% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,936 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 over the last three months. 1.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research cut Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.18.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $253.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $261.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.36. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.67%.

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.