Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 36,123 Shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Equifax, owning 833,245 shares valued at approximately $202.9 million after a 4.5% growth in the first quarter.
• CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares for about $11.67 million, reducing his ownership by 25.25% to 142,872 shares.
• Equifax shares have been rated positively by analysts, with a consensus price target of $285.00 and multiple firms maintaining "buy" ratings.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 833,245 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 36,123 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.67% of Equifax worth $202,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $241,087,000 after purchasing an additional 945,988 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 24,315.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 696,094 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $169,541,000 after buying an additional 693,243 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Equifax by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,281,340,000 after buying an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Equifax by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,708,331 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,582,361,000 after buying an additional 318,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Equifax by 115.2% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 312,298 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $79,589,000 after buying an additional 167,155 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.71, for a total value of $11,665,891.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 142,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,533,591.12. This represents a 25.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America lowered Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on Equifax from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Equifax from $296.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.00.

Equifax Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of EFX traded up $1.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $241.07. 899,060 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,057,871. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Equifax, Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.84 billion, a PE ratio of 47.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $256.12 and a 200-day moving average of $251.59.

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

Equifax Company 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.