Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes $11.96 Million Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 40,700 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,960,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $282,212,000 after buying an additional 959,115 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Equifax by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 200,665 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 127.1% in the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $84,947,000 after buying an additional 196,106 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 27.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 606,969 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $147,166,000 after buying an additional 130,249 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Stock Up 1.0 %

EFX opened at $261.17 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $272.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.57. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044. Company insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on EFX. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.74.

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.