Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 91.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,871 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EFX. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the first quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the first quarter worth $31,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE:EFX traded up $2.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $284.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,464,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 714,422. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.22 billion, a PE ratio of 63.39, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $248.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $249.14. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $287.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. Analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EFX. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $246.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Karen L. Fichuk purchased 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $238.77 per share, with a total value of $99,089.55. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,134.85. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Karen L. Fichuk purchased 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $238.77 per share, for a total transaction of $99,089.55. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,305 shares in the company, valued at $789,134.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP James M. Griggs sold 2,410 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $575,026.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,193,238.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,238 shares of company stock worth $2,647,378 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

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.