California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 201,711 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 10,876 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.16% of Equifax worth $51,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EFX. Barclays PLC boosted its position 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 658,438 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $193,489,000 after acquiring an additional 50,680 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 39,048 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,952,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Equifax Price Performance
Shares of NYSE EFX traded up $1.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $264.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,046,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 975,569. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.98 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $32.84 billion, a PE ratio of 54.74, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business's 50 day moving average price is $247.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.57.
Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.
Equifax Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Equifax's payout ratio is 40.90%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $294.44.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on EFX
Equifax Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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