Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Purchases 109 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth about $299,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the third quarter worth approximately $4,845,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 12.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,184 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 37.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 55,473 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $16,301,000 after purchasing an additional 15,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Equifax by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,512 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group started coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $258.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.67 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $276.79 and a 200-day moving average of $268.36. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 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.