Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys 3,629 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,909 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,629 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $4,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EFX. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,415,284,000 after purchasing an additional 52,489 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $738,184,000 after buying an additional 70,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $845,041,000 after acquiring an additional 29,742 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX traded up $7.73 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $273.54. 1,142,960 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 875,542. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $33.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.78, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.29.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 in the last 90 days. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on EFX. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $311.39.

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.