First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Boosts Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 12.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,557 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weitz Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $917,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 330,453 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $81,718,000 after purchasing an additional 8,668 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,274,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 102,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,257,000 after purchasing an additional 14,629 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on EFX. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer reduced 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.19.

Equifax Stock Up 0.2 %

EFX opened at $240.41 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $159.95 and a one 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 has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.31.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.37 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

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.