Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 318 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Equifax were worth $7,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 52,489 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.9% in the 2nd 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 period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 2.4% during the second 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 during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 1.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 29,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $311.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $273.65 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $267.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $270.89. The company has a market capitalization of $33.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.81, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

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.