Czech National Bank Purchases 1,670 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Czech National Bank boosted its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Equifax were worth $6,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after purchasing an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 34.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $251,480,000 after buying an additional 220,109 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5,123.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,827,000 after buying an additional 112,910 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 767,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $225,431,000 after acquiring an additional 88,895 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group started coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.81.

Equifax Trading Up 1.8 %

EFX opened at $251.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $31.23 billion, a PE ratio of 55.99, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $258.70 and a 200-day moving average of $272.91.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

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.