Avanza Fonder AB Purchases New Shares in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,057 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,053,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sendero Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth $3,070,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Equifax by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 155,957 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,746,000 after purchasing an additional 40,843 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Equifax by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Equifax by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,351 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $854,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 28,226 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,193,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EFX shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equifax from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $275.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $311.12.

Equifax Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded down $1.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $262.87. 712,062 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 776,733. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $258.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $32.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.42, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.57.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued 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 Friday, November 22nd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.