Quantinno Capital Management LP Increases Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,881 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 76.1% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the second quarter worth $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 138.2% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Equifax in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 over the last quarter. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equifax Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $264.93 on Tuesday. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $269.53.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. 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.