Blueshift Asset Management LLC Purchases 9,416 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 384.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,868 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,416 shares during the period. Equifax accounts for about 0.9% of Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $3,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the third quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 76.1% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 138.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.74.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equifax Stock Down 1.9 %

EFX stock opened at $258.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $32.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $276.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.36. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.67 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.