State of Michigan Retirement System Boosts Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,878 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Equifax were worth $8,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors raised its position in Equifax by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,757,425,000 after purchasing an additional 342,170 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Equifax by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,033,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,754,228,000 after purchasing an additional 137,961 shares during the period. Generation Investment Management LLP raised its position in Equifax by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,856,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $953,612,000 after purchasing an additional 298,846 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 1,740.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $515,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,572,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $388,949,000 after purchasing an additional 206,037 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.00.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at $14,263,083.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,263,083.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equifax Stock Up 0.4 %

EFX opened at $303.24 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $266.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $254.36. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.95 and a twelve month high of $306.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.54, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.56.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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