Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 47 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,976 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Equifax by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.74.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $286.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $35.39 billion, a PE ratio of 63.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $294.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $261.67.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.