Swedbank AB Grows Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 37.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,473 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,140 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Equifax were worth $16,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after acquiring an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Equifax by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,036,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 127.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $84,947,000 after acquiring an additional 196,106 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Equifax by 27.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 606,969 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $147,166,000 after buying an additional 130,249 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5,123.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,827,000 after purchasing an additional 112,910 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group began 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of 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 target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $258.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $276.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.36. The company has a market cap of $32.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.54, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.67 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.67%.

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.