Acadian Asset Management LLC Invests $618,000 in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,555 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the second quarter valued at about $124,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.5% in the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 6.5% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 8,555 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,074,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.4% during the second quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,146 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,979,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 research report on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.59.

Equifax Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $297.83 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.95 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.33, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.34.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of Equifax 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.