Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys New Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 33,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,944,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Equifax by 1.2% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 13.5% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Equifax by 0.3% in the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,749,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EFX. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.74.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equifax Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $252.92 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.67 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $31.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.20, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $278.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $267.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

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.