ProShare Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,087 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,382 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Equifax by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 292,914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $78,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth approximately $917,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $1,274,000. Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth about $972,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake 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 worth $6,916,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $302.06.

Equifax Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $290.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $290.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $260.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.73, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Equifax’s payout ratio 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.