Empirical Finance LLC Sells 42 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Empirical Finance LLC lessened its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,163 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in Equifax by 271.5% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 977 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in Equifax by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 37,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equifax Trading Up 2.1 %

EFX stock opened at $253.47 on Tuesday. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $31.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.48, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.82.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.69.

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.