Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 270 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,635 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 76.1% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 138.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.47.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX opened at $265.04 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.23 and a 52-week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of Equifax 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,304 shares of company stock valued at $16,889,119. 1.57% of the stock is 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.