Pathstone Holdings LLC Raises Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,258 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Conning Inc. raised its stake in Equifax by 4.7% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 13.5% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equifax by 0.3% in the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Equifax by 3.0% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EFX. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group started coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.74.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $263.87 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $32.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.67 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.36.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. 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.