Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $357,000 Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 82 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 1,740.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $515,817,000 after buying an additional 1,972,564 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,218,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $154,667,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $126,794,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equifax by 70.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 739,492 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $182,869,000 after purchasing an additional 305,028 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $260.89 on Thursday. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $276.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $32.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.56.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Equifax from $246.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 5,178 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $1,235,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,029,028.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $1,235,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,029,028.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 83,635 shares of company stock worth $18,969,282. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.