Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 17.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,422 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Equifax by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,552,000 after buying an additional 11,002 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 75.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Equifax by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 625 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 2,536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 in the last three months. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $260.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.88. The stock has a market cap of $32.32 billion, a PE ratio of 58.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted 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 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

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.