Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC Cuts Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 810 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Equifax in the third quarter worth $29,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Equifax by 98.7% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax during the third quarter valued at about $73,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus lowered shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.13.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock opened at $238.04 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $29.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.28, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $258.10 and a 200 day moving average of $272.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.