Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC Purchases New Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter worth $31,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 76.1% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 138.2% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE EFX traded down $4.86 during trading on Monday, hitting $277.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 223,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 844,424. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $34.26 billion, a PE ratio of 62.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $294.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.00.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released 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 net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of several research reports. 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.47.

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.