Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by DNB Asset Management AS

DNB Asset Management AS lifted its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX – Get Rating) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,899 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares during the quarter. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Equifax were worth $6,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EFX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Equifax by 131.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,112,175 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $911,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768,646 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $281,318,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Equifax by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,065,551 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $897,562,000 after acquiring an additional 536,419 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Equifax by 94.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 656,456 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $192,204,000 after acquiring an additional 318,400 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth $81,310,000. Institutional investors own 90.92% of the company’s stock.

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Equifax from $265.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 22nd. TheStreet raised Equifax from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Equifax from $255.00 to $221.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.92.

EFX opened at $180.77 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $197.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.16. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.25 and a 1 year high of $300.11. The company has a market capitalization of $22.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 20th. The credit services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.07. Equifax had a return on equity of 26.93% and a net margin of 15.06%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 25th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 24th. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 25.20%.

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.74, for a total value of $3,071,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,945,500.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Profile (Get Rating)

Equifax Inc provides information solutions and human resources business process automation outsourcing services for businesses, governments, and consumers. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers employment, income, criminal history, and social security number verification services, as well as payroll-based transaction, employment tax management, and identity theft protection products.

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