Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC

Key Points

• Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC reduced its stake in Equifax by 63.3% in the first quarter, holding 2,257 shares worth $550,000 after selling 3,898 shares.
• Equifax's stock price target has seen various changes, with Needham & Company restating a "buy" rating at $295, while BMO and Barclays have reduced their targets to $260 and $240, respectively.
• In the latest quarterly earnings, Equifax reported $2.00 EPS, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $1.54 billion, marking a 7.4% year-over-year increase.

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 63.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,257 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 3,898 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 15.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 679,688 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $796,075,000 after acquiring an additional 11,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $751,645,000 after acquiring an additional 71,543 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Equifax by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,207,225 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $307,661,000 after acquiring an additional 116,524 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Equifax by 4.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,098,718 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $267,604,000 after acquiring an additional 46,505 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EFX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Equifax from $294.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America downgraded Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Equifax from $315.00 to $278.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Equifax Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded down $0.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $239.61. 1,606,221 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,093,116. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Equifax, Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.98 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $29.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.64. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $258.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $252.80.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.