Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP Purchases 27,637 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP lifted its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 47,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,637 shares during the quarter. Equifax accounts for 6.3% of Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP’s holdings in Equifax were worth $14,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Equifax by 72.0% in the first 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 last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,036,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 127.1% during the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $84,947,000 after buying an additional 196,106 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective 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. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.47.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX traded up $0.96 during trading on Monday, hitting $271.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 44,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 855,469. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $182.01 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $33.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $286.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.