Raymond James Trust N.A. Boosts Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,537 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $6,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EFX. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Equifax by 4.9% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,952,000 after buying an additional 200,665 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $738,184,000 after acquiring an additional 70,091 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 72.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,051,000 after acquiring an additional 633,887 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after purchasing an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Equifax by 13.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 767,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,431,000 after purchasing an additional 88,895 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on EFX shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on 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 initiated coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $253.58 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $277.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.73. 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 $208.67 and a one year high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $31.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 0.62%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

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.