Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. &PARTNERS grew its stake in Equifax by 222.7% during the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 4,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 2,889 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax during the second quarter worth approximately $245,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Equifax by 3.1% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,998 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $727,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the second quarter worth $307,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 3.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 385,378 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $93,439,000 after purchasing an additional 13,540 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on EFX. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

Equifax Stock Up 1.9 %

EFX stock opened at $302.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.95 and a 1-year high of $303.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $264.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.47. The firm has a market cap of $37.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.30, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.56.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total transaction of $836,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at $14,263,083.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.