Geode Capital Management LLC Has $845.04 Million Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 29,742 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.33% of Equifax worth $845,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after buying an additional 52,489 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Equifax by 4.9% in the 2nd 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 period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $738,184,000 after purchasing an additional 70,091 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 76,913.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $282,212,000 after acquiring an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX traded up $2.55 on Thursday, hitting $265.29. 691,576 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 874,674. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.95, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $268.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $269.60. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be 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 is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $311.67.

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.