Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 2,112 Shares of Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management increased its stake in Equifax, Inc. by 5.9% in Q1, owning 38,200 shares worth approximately $9.29 million following the purchase of 2,112 additional shares.
• Other institutional investors, including Westpac Banking Corp, increased their holdings significantly, with Westpac raising its stake by 703.5% to own 6,356 shares valued at $1.55 million.
• Equifax reported better-than-expected earnings, with a quarterly EPS of $2.00, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.08, and generated $1.54 billion in revenue for the quarter.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,200 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Equifax were worth $9,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 703.5% in the 1st quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,356 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,548,000 after buying an additional 5,565 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 11.1% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 64,580 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $15,729,000 after acquiring an additional 6,460 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Equifax by 8.6% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 16,898 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 19.8% during the first quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 7,041 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,582,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares of the business's 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 directly owned 142,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,533,591.12. The trade was a 25.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Equifax from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $294.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $310.00 to $289.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.00.

Equifax Trading Down 0.3%

EFX traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $246.94. The stock had a trading volume of 262,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,328. Equifax, Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $254.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 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 (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The credit services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 10.95%. Equifax's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS 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.