Moore Capital Management LP Reduces Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Moore Capital Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 79.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,413 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 13,495 shares during the quarter. Moore Capital Management LP’s holdings in Equifax were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 7,883,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $241,087,000 after acquiring an additional 945,988 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,281,340,000 after purchasing an additional 679,688 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,896,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.0%

Equifax stock opened at $273.70 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.98 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $33.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.67, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Equities analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at $16,887,101.60. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on EFX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus cut shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.