Tredje AP fonden Sells 303 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Tredje AP fonden reduced its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,372 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 303 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 1,740.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $515,817,000 after buying an additional 1,972,564 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,218,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Equifax by 72.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,051,000 after acquiring an additional 633,887 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,794,000. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Equifax by 2.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,757,425,000 after purchasing an additional 342,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $297.57 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $285.02 and its 200 day moving average is $258.53. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $36.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58. 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 (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EFX. Citigroup boosted their price target on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.59.

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.