Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,512 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter valued at $764,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Equifax by 55.5% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 8.0% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 1.0% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 22,178 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,933,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at about $217,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. 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 the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. Corporate insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.74.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $261.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.04, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $209.68 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors 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 yield of 0.60%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.