Jensen Investment Management Inc. Sells 263,556 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Jensen Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 17.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,241,945 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 263,556 shares during the period. Equifax accounts for approximately 3.1% of Jensen Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Jensen Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.00% of Equifax worth $364,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 8.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,588 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth $769,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,297 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in Equifax by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 48,862 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $14,359,000 after acquiring an additional 10,450 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Equifax by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 147,448 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $43,329,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on EFX shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $310.47.

Equifax Trading Up 0.5 %

EFX traded up $1.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $270.93. 656,955 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,057,108. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $180.31 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $286.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax's payout ratio is presently 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.