Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Lowers Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp decreased its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 20.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,390 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,097 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 1,740.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $515,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,564 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth $204,218,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Equifax by 72.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,051,000 after acquiring an additional 633,887 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $126,794,000. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Equifax by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,757,425,000 after acquiring an additional 342,170 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,065,118.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equifax Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $297.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.82 billion, a PE ratio of 66.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.97. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $308.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.71 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.69.

Equifax 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.