Empowered Funds LLC Has $632,000 Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 18.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,149 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in 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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Equifax by 72.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $405,051,000 after buying an additional 633,887 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 127.1% in the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $84,947,000 after acquiring an additional 196,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Equifax by 27.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 606,969 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $147,166,000 after acquiring an additional 130,249 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Equifax stock opened at $253.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $277.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.95. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.67 and a 52-week high of $309.63. 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 (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EFX. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas raised 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. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.74.

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.