Raymond James & Associates Acquires 17,848 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 403,226 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,848 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.33% of Equifax worth $118,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conning Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.7% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.2% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.3% during the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5.1% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 76.1% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded down $6.36 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $275.63. 766,853 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 847,103. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $294.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.04. The company has a market cap of $34.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on EFX. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $310.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

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.