Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 2,617 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $769,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. 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 buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Equifax during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 period. Finally, First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction 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 $29,532,909.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EFX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.47.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $271.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $286.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.58. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.31 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Equifax Company 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.