Verition Fund Management LLC Reduces Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Verition Fund Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 412 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Equifax by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,422 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Equifax by 41.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 40,886 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,015,000 after purchasing an additional 11,885 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the third quarter worth about $4,076,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 384.0% in the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 11,868 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 9,416 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 14,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,347,000 after buying an additional 1,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $265.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.07, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $267.78 and a 200 day moving average of $270.01. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax 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.