Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Equifax by 1.1% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 292,914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $78,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 8.5% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Equifax by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 126,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,970,000 after buying an additional 15,744 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Equifax by 85.8% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 37,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,904,000 after acquiring an additional 17,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Equifax by 183.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,552,000 after acquiring an additional 11,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.4 %

EFX opened at $272.09 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $294.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a PE ratio of 60.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of Equifax 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on EFX. Wolfe Research began coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday. Four 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.47.

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.