Assetmark Inc. Boosts Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Equifax by 72.0% during 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.9% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,036,952,000 after acquiring an additional 200,665 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 127.1% during the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $84,947,000 after purchasing an additional 196,106 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.47.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Equifax news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $265.97 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $189.95 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $284.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.77.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

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.