Mark W. Begor Sells 58,300 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Stock

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Equifax Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $220.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.28 billion, a PE ratio of 49.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $253.31 and its 200 day moving average is $233.94. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 3,229 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 36,877 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,865,000 after purchasing an additional 2,983 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,348 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,603 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at $1,767,000. Finally, SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter valued at $2,541,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equifax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.19.

Equifax Company 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.