ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 151,022 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,500 shares during the period. Equifax makes up approximately 1.8% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Equifax worth $44,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 76.1% during the 2nd 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 stake in Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 138.2% during the 2nd 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. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX opened at $289.95 on Thursday. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.68. The company has a market capitalization of $35.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.58, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. 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. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.74.

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.