Pitcairn Co. Has $426,000 Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Pitcairn Co. cut its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,449 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $84,947,000 after acquiring an additional 196,106 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax by 27.3% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Equifax by 5,123.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,827,000 after acquiring an additional 112,910 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EFX shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $258.94 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $276.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.36. The firm has a market cap of $32.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.54, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.67 and a 1 year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. 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 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.