GAMMA Investing LLC Has $727,000 Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,851 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,646,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,097 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 3.9% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 54,509 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,216,000 after purchasing an additional 2,047 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Equifax by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 584,820 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $141,789,000 after acquiring an additional 81,966 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Equifax by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,880,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $311.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 in the last quarter. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equifax Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $253.39 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $272.36.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

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.