SpiderRock Advisors LLC Sells 3,354 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,354 shares during the period. SpiderRock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $3,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 138.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in Equifax during the second quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $270.93 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $286.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.87. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $180.31 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EFX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.47.

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.