Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC Takes $344,000 Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Equifax in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 138.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock traded down $4.86 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $277.13. The stock had a trading volume of 223,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 844,424. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $294.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.00. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.80, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on EFX. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday. UBS Group started coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.47.

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.