Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Purchases Shares of 13,500 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 13,500 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,967,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $282,212,000 after purchasing an additional 959,115 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. 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 during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 127.1% during the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $84,947,000 after purchasing an additional 196,106 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 606,969 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $147,166,000 after purchasing an additional 130,249 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on EFX shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target 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. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $306.74.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE:EFX traded up $2.47 on Tuesday, hitting $261.17. The company had a trading volume of 715,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 873,860. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.04, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $272.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.83.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. Equifax's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the 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 directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 over the last quarter. 1.66% 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.