NS Partners Ltd Boosts Stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Key Points

• NS Partners Ltd increased its holdings in Equifax, acquiring an additional 2,037 shares, bringing its total to 95,375 shares valued at approximately $23.23 million.
• Equifax's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.00, exceeding expectations, and the company's revenue increased by 7.4% year-over-year.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Equifax, with several lowering price objectives, resulting in a consensus target price of $285.00 for the stock.

NS Partners Ltd increased its stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,375 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the period. NS Partners Ltd owned 0.08% of Equifax worth $23,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EFX. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 7,883,233.3% in 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 15.6% during the 4th 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,708,331 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,582,361,000 after purchasing an additional 318,826 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Equifax by 115.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 312,298 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $79,589,000 after acquiring an additional 167,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EFX. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Equifax from $296.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Equifax from $310.00 to $289.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America downgraded Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Seven 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.71, for a total transaction of $11,665,891.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,872 shares in the company, valued at $34,533,591.12. The trade was a 25.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded up $1.34 on Tuesday, hitting $240.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 435,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,733. The company has a market capitalization of $29.83 billion, a PE ratio of 47.16, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Equifax, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.59.

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

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.