Avestar Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 755 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Avestar Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 755 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Equifax by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Equifax by 85.8% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 37,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,904,000 after acquiring an additional 17,501 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Equifax by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,552,000 after acquiring an additional 11,002 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,241,000 after acquiring an additional 2,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at $15,646,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $261.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $275.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.43. The stock has a market cap of $32.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.04, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $209.68 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.74.

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.