Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 338.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,886 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax in the first quarter valued at approximately $764,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 55.5% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Equifax by 8.0% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its position in Equifax by 1.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 22,178 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,933,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter valued at approximately $217,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.74.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $261.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a PE ratio of 58.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.59. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $276.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $209.68 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

About Equifax

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.