Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 69.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,778 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EFX. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after buying an additional 52,489 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $845,041,000 after purchasing an additional 29,742 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $238.04 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $258.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.88. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.13.

About Equifax

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.