International Assets Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 99.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 959,046 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Equifax by 3.0% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,936 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Equifax stock opened at $243.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $30.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.61. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Equifax news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EFX shares. Robert W. Baird increased 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. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.81.

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.