M&G PLC decreased its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,429 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 12,468 shares during the period. M&G PLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $16,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,348 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,908,000 after buying an additional 1,603 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Equifax by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,922 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 378.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 201 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,392 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,827 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,897,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.
Equifax Stock Performance
EFX traded up $1.72 on Friday, reaching $271.21. The company had a trading volume of 656,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 859,208. The stock has a market cap of $33.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59. 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 fifty-two week low of $180.31 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company's fifty day moving average is $286.38 and its 200 day moving average is $265.58.
Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Equifax Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. 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 0.58%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages recently commented on EFX. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $310.47.
Get Our Latest Report on Equifax
Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax
In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company'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 $29,532,909.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.66% of the company's stock.
Equifax Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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