Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,315 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Equifax were worth $2,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EFX. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 270,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $65,567,000 after purchasing an additional 32,549 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in Equifax by 1.2% in the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 11,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 24.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,495,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,033 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,264,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.06.

Insider Activity at Equifax

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

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock opened at $299.09 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week 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 stock has a market cap of $36.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $287.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $259.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.52%. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 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.