Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 658,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 50,680 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.53% of Equifax worth $193,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $282,212,000 after purchasing an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Equifax by 34.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $251,480,000 after buying an additional 220,109 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted 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 worth $1,036,952,000 after buying an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Equifax by 27.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock opened at $255.22 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $262.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.15. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $31.64 billion, a PE ratio of 56.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax 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 value of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upped their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.18.

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.