Trust Co. of Vermont Increases Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 435.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Equifax were worth $638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $917,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter worth about $109,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 21,694 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,804,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 5.7% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,176 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group began coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.47.

Equifax Stock Up 0.6 %

EFX stock opened at $282.05 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $294.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.95. The company has a market capitalization of $34.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.