Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Stock Holdings Lessened by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,664 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EFX. Capital International Investors boosted its position 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 valued at $3,757,425,000 after purchasing an additional 342,170 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Equifax by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,036,952,000 after buying an additional 200,665 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 2.4% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $738,184,000 after buying an additional 70,091 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 72.0% in the first 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 during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $282,212,000 after acquiring an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EFX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group began coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays upped their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.47.

Equifax Trading Down 5.3 %

Equifax stock opened at $248.27 on Monday. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $197.13 and a one year high of $309.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $282.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $30.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.17, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.