Ycg LLC Trims Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Ycg LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 45.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Ycg LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,895,487 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,436,215,000 after buying an additional 204,481 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,703,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,388,695,000 after buying an additional 40,642 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,856,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $953,612,000 after buying an additional 298,846 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1,740.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $515,817,000 after buying an additional 1,972,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,572,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $388,949,000 after buying an additional 206,037 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were 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 owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total transaction of $836,726.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,263,083.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 83,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,969,282 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of EFX stock traded up $5.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $257.97. 634,206 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 822,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $275.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $246.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.56.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued 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. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.47.

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.