Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 667,239 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 825,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 667,239 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.67% of Equifax worth $224,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,757,425,000 after purchasing an additional 342,170 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,033,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,754,228,000 after purchasing an additional 137,961 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,036,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200,665 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $738,184,000 after purchasing an additional 70,091 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 72.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,051,000 after purchasing an additional 633,887 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $264.39. The stock had a trading volume of 844,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 956,533. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $170.62 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $32.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.75, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $289.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

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. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.67%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,304 shares of company stock worth $16,889,119. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.47.

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.