Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,657 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,399 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Equifax were worth $12,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Equifax by 552.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 11,627 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,875,000 after acquiring an additional 9,844 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 447.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 504 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 59.6% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,067 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Equifax by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,905 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in Equifax by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 33,778 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,353,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EFX shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $246.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.00.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,029,028.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $1,235,626.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at $4,029,028.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,238 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,378 in the last ninety days. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE EFX traded up $2.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $274.09. 471,904 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 818,949. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $276.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $244.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.89. The firm has a market cap of $33.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.56.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

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.