Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 41.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,772 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Equifax by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,820 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.0% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 9,502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 20.4% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 13,538 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Equifax by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,372 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,900,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 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 value of $13,143,735.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $13,143,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX traded up $4.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $242.17. 860,142 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 851,980. The company has a market capitalization of $29.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.94, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.95 and a twelve month high of $275.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $244.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.94.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Bank of America lowered their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, 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.