Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Stock Holdings Increased by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 1,740.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $515,817,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972,564 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of 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. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $126,794,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in 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. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 70.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 739,492 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $182,869,000 after buying an additional 305,028 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.06.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $299.09 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $36.97 billion, a PE ratio of 66.61, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $287.98 and its 200 day moving average is $259.26. 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.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

About Equifax

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.