Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Trims Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,948 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Equifax by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 153,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,959,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $917,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Equifax by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 330,453 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $81,718,000 after acquiring an additional 8,668 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,274,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Equifax by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 102,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,257,000 after acquiring an additional 14,629 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EFX. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.19.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock opened at $240.41 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $275.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $237.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $246.31. The firm has a market cap of $29.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.54, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.56.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Equifax news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $13,143,735.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,969,282 in the last quarter. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.