Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Position Lessened by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,646 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Equifax were worth $6,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1,920.0% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 101 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 505.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 121 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total value of $5,686,477.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $305.00 target price (up from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $294.94.

Equifax Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $255.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $259.71 and its 200-day moving average is $253.10. Equifax, Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.98 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 10.68%. Equities research analysts predict that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.90%.

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.