Nicola Wealth Management LTD. Has $11.40 Million Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. increased its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 291.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the period. Nicola Wealth Management LTD.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $11,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 3.6% during the second quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 15,347 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,721,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $399,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Equifax by 1.0% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 12,772 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Equifax Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of EFX traded up $3.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $307.13. 798,014 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 817,427. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $270.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.40. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $307.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.96 billion, a PE ratio of 68.40, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax 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.