Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Trims Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lessened its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,132 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Equifax by 3.0% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in Equifax by 3.7% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 1.9% during the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,936 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $311.12.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $262.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.58 billion, a PE ratio of 58.42, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.57.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

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.