Diversified Trust Co Takes $231,000 Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 787 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Equifax by 72.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,051,000 after purchasing an additional 633,887 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,757,425,000 after buying an additional 342,170 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equifax by 70.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 739,492 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $182,869,000 after purchasing an additional 305,028 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,895,487 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,436,215,000 after purchasing an additional 204,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Equifax by 4.9% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $285.09 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $294.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.15. The firm has a market cap of $35.28 billion, a PE ratio of 60.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EFX shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group began coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 owns 10,875 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.