Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Acquired by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 281,319 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,990 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $68,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.7% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.3% during the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,749,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 5.1% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 76.1% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Stock Up 3.0 %

EFX stock opened at $306.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $308.54.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EFX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.