Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,390,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the December 31st total of 2,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 987,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,415,284,000 after purchasing an additional 52,489 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $845,041,000 after purchasing an additional 29,742 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $412,239,000 after acquiring an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 76,913.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after buying an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EFX shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wolfe Research cut Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.41.

Equifax Stock Performance

Equifax stock traded up $0.20 on Tuesday, reaching $267.72. 113,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 842,824. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $261.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $275.08. The stock has a market cap of $33.18 billion, a PE ratio of 59.51, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

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.