Raymond James & Associates Increases Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 403,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,848 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.33% of Equifax worth $118,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in Equifax by 76.1% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Equifax during the second quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 138.2% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

Equifax stock opened at $281.99 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.86 billion, a PE ratio of 62.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $309.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $294.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.00. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.74%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.47.

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.