Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Acquired by Vident Advisory LLC

Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 119.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,780 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,604 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EFX. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,329,000 after buying an additional 5,097 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Equifax by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 658,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $193,489,000 after purchasing an additional 50,680 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equifax by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,537 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 39,048 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,952,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $262.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.35, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $246.33 and a 200 day moving average of $252.78.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The company 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EFX. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America began coverage on Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $294.44.

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.