Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 147,448 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Equifax worth $43,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 959,115 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 72.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $405,051,000 after acquiring an additional 633,887 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,757,425,000 after acquiring an additional 342,170 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 200,665 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 127.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $84,947,000 after acquiring an additional 196,106 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EFX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer upped their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $310.47.

Equifax Stock Performance

Equifax stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $270.99. 610,330 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 858,067. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $182.01 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market cap of $33.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.59. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $285.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.47.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released 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. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders 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 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

About Equifax

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.