National Pension Service Buys 7,107 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 166,004 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,107 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.13% of Equifax worth $48,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth $73,000. Northeast Investment Management bought a new position in Equifax in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at about $200,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.3% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 36,979 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $10,867,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 3.7% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX traded down $5.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $264.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,523,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 854,856. The company has a market cap of $32.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.31 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The business's 50 day moving average price is $288.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.19.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. Equifax's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EFX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $310.47.

Equifax 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.