Natixis Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,618 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Equifax worth $23,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 8.5% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,916,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Equifax by 14.2% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 126,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,970,000 after purchasing an additional 15,744 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 85.8% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 37,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,904,000 after purchasing an additional 17,501 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 183.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,552,000 after purchasing an additional 11,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,241,000 after buying an additional 2,499 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.47.

Equifax Stock Down 1.2 %

Equifax stock opened at $245.29 on Tuesday. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.16 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $30.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.51, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction 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 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.