Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,269 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 75.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 42.5% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of Equifax by 10.8% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,411 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 69,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $16,915,000 after acquiring an additional 3,279 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Equifax by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on EFX. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $308.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, 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 at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’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 value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044. 1.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock opened at $264.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $269.91 and a 200-day moving average of $269.53. The company has a market cap of $32.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.87, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.57. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

About Equifax

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.