Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $963,000 Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV cut its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 9.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,970 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 424 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Equifax were worth $963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 292,914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $78,360,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth about $917,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,274,000. Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $972,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 8.5% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on EFX shares. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $302.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $292.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $290.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $259.90. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Equifax Company 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.