Ethic Inc. Lowers Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Ethic Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 62.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,121 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,578 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Equifax by 2.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,097 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 658,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $193,489,000 after purchasing an additional 50,680 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 26,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 28,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,193,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This represents a 13.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $273.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.67, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. This is an increase from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 40.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on EFX. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

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.