Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $13.60 Million Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 46,282 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,160 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $13,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 8.5% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,916,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 126,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,970,000 after purchasing an additional 15,744 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 85.8% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 37,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,904,000 after purchasing an additional 17,501 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Equifax by 183.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,552,000 after purchasing an additional 11,002 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,241,000 after buying an additional 2,499 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 0.1 %

EFX opened at $245.03 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.16 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.37 billion, a PE ratio of 54.45, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $280.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.82.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on EFX. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.84.

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.