Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 62.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,757 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,588 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Equifax were worth $7,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 55.5% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 199 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at $17,126,083.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $239.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s fifty day moving average is $248.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $235.70. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 34.74%.

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.