Equifax, Inc. $EFX Shares Acquired by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1,169.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,425 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the second quarter worth about $1,491,357,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 310.5% in the 1st quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,184,569 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $753,515,000 after purchasing an additional 3,165,120 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $290,868,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $187,215,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Equifax in the second quarter valued at approximately $174,843,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.96, for a total transaction of $845,820.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 69,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,979,577.80. The trade was a 6.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Begor sold 37,792 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.80, for a total transaction of $6,908,377.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 289,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,997,741.60. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,292 shares of company stock worth $8,464,918. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $200.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Equifax from $230.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Equifax from $225.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $201.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Argus upgraded Equifax from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.55.

Equifax Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $192.61 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.30. The firm has a market cap of $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.35. Equifax, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.01 and a 1 year high of $228.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The credit services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. Equifax had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 22.48%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.50 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.19%.

Equifax Profile

Equifax Inc (NYSE: EFX) is a global data, analytics and technology company that provides information and services to help businesses, governments and consumers make informed financial and workforce decisions. The company is best known for its credit reporting activities, but its offerings also include identity verification, fraud prevention, income and employment verification, marketing services and risk management solutions.

Equifax provides consumer and commercial credit information, credit reports and related analytics to lenders and other businesses.