Creative Planning Purchases 1,303 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Creative Planning boosted its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,929 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,303 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Equifax were worth $8,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conning Inc. increased its position in Equifax by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equifax by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on EFX. UBS Group began coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. 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. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the 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 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 is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $293.30 on Thursday. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.95 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.99. The company has a market cap of $36.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.32, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

About Equifax

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.