Raymond James Trust N.A. Acquires 240 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $5,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Equifax by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equifax by 0.3% during 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 buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Equifax by 5.1% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,557 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Equifax by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock traded up $2.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $304.43. The stock had a trading volume of 10,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 820,007. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.30, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.56. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $304.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $264.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $253.62.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total transaction of $836,726.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total transaction of $836,726.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,065,118.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EFX shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

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.