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

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,657 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Equifax by 1.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 199,371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,521,000 after buying an additional 3,562 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at $134,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 39,418 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 6,695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $227.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week high of $275.10. The firm has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a PE ratio of 50.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $250.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.11.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equifax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax 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.