Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 2,039 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,975 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Equifax were worth $7,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 236,623 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $58,514,000 after buying an additional 32,865 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its position in Equifax by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,786 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at about $280,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Equifax by 111.7% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 133,719 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,067,000 after buying an additional 70,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 10,740 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,656,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,065,118.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.95.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock opened at $282.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $34.88 billion, a PE ratio of 62.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.95 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $293.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.52. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

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.