Stephens Inc. AR Boosts Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Equifax were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 76.1% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 138.2% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE EFX opened at $269.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $180.31 and a one year high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $33.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.89, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.47.

About Equifax

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.