Qsemble Capital Management LP Invests $4.35 Million in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 14,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,000. Equifax accounts for approximately 0.8% of Qsemble Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $282,212,000 after buying an additional 959,115 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.9% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,952,000 after acquiring an additional 200,665 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 127.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $84,947,000 after purchasing an additional 196,106 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 606,969 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $147,166,000 after purchasing an additional 130,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 5,123.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,827,000 after purchasing an additional 112,910 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EFX shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.74.

Equifax Trading Up 3.1 %

EFX traded up $7.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $261.49. The stock had a trading volume of 86,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,765. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $277.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.67 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on 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 owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equifax 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.