Brooklyn Investment Group Acquires New Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $169,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $282,212,000 after purchasing an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.9% in the second 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 buying an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 127.1% during the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $84,947,000 after acquiring an additional 196,106 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Equifax by 27.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 606,969 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $147,166,000 after acquiring an additional 130,249 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Up 0.9 %

EFX stock opened at $261.19 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $276.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.04, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $209.68 and a one year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on EFX shares. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.74.

Equifax 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.