B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Buys New Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 44,266 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,008,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group started coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $307.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of EFX traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $245.03. 2,095,897 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 871,702. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.37 billion, a PE ratio of 53.78, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $204.16 and a 52 week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Equifax Company 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.