Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its stake in Equifax by 15.5%, owning 9,929 shares valued at $2.4 million after selling 1,819 shares in the first quarter.
• Equifax reported $2.00 EPS for its last quarter, surpassing estimates, with quarterly revenue of $1.54 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 7.4%.
• Equifax's CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares at approximately $241.71 each, representing a 25.25% reduction in his position, leaving him with about 142,872 shares.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC cut its position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 15.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,929 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,819 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $2,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 7,883,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $241,087,000 after purchasing an additional 945,988 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Equifax by 119.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,453,618 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $354,044,000 after purchasing an additional 790,919 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 24,315.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 696,094 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $169,541,000 after purchasing an additional 693,243 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Equifax by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,281,340,000 after buying an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Equifax by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,708,331 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,582,361,000 after buying an additional 318,826 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EFX shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $305.00 price objective (up from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $278.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.71, for a total value of $11,665,891.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 142,872 shares in the company, valued at $34,533,591.12. This represents a 25.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Down 2.0%

NYSE:EFX traded down $5.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $248.19. 1,088,169 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,060,843. Equifax, Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.98 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $255.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $251.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.73 billion, a PE ratio of 48.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.64.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The credit services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.