Portside Wealth Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $381,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.7% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Equifax by 0.3% in 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. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on EFX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. 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 is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $270.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $286.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.58 billion, a PE ratio of 60.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.31 and a 52 week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

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.