First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 149 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the third quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 3.2% during the third quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 107,593 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,617,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370 shares during the period. abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 7.8% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 49,143 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,436,000 after purchasing an additional 3,552 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 29.3% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,510 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,141,000 after purchasing an additional 7,822 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 7.0% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 14,376 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,224,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EFX shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.47.

Equifax Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE EFX opened at $265.04 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.23 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $32.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $290.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,304 shares of company stock valued at $16,889,119 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

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.