Qsemble Capital Management LP Acquires New Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,000. Equifax comprises about 0.8% of Qsemble Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Equifax by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,952,000 after acquiring an additional 200,665 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.4% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $738,184,000 after purchasing an additional 70,091 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after purchasing an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 13.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 767,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,431,000 after purchasing an additional 88,895 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in Equifax by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 652,631 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $174,511,000 after buying an additional 27,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EFX. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group began coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Four equities research 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, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.74.

Equifax Stock Up 3.1 %

NYSE EFX traded up $7.91 during trading on Monday, reaching $261.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 86,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,765. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $277.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.19. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.67 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.41 billion, a PE ratio of 56.35, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted 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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 34.67%.

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.