Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Raises Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,059 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. American National Bank purchased a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter worth approximately $776,000. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Equifax by 5.7% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,176 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Equifax by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 21,694 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,804,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Welch Group LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter valued at $222,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total value of $836,726.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,969,282 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $239.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $235.35 and its 200 day moving average is $246.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.95 and a 12 month high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.19.

Equifax 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.